By Nick Georgandis
TennisNow.com
Photo credit: Michael O'Kane

The staggering streak of Novak Djokovic has endured yet another fearsome challenge, and so goes the pride of Serbia to the finals of the Mutua Madrid Open intent on taking down the No. 1 manin the world.

Djokovic rallied past Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to improve to 31-0 on the season and reach the finals at Madrid, where tomorrow he will battle Rafael Nadal for the title.
Nadal edged Roger Federer in three sets earlier in the day in the first semifinal.

Bellucci, ranked 36th in the world entering the week, already had upsets ove Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych under his belt entering the match.  He played a nearly-flawless first set, serving 10 of 11 first serves and 10 of 12 second serves for points to put Djokovic in a hole for a second straight round.

But Djokovic has shown that being behind a set can't faze him time and again this season, breaking Bellucci twice in the second set and twice more in the third set to run his overall wining streak to 33 matches dating back to last November.

Now the Serbian is one win away from his sixth title in six tournaments this year.  Two of those crowns have been won against Nadal - at Indian Wells and Miami on hard surfaces in March.

It will be Djokovic's 37th career final. He's won 23 of them. A win Sunday will give him six titles in one season for the first time in his career, having won five in 2009 and 2007 as well.

Although the tournament's focus has largely centered on Nadal and Djokovic, Bellucci's accomplishments should not be overlooked this week.  He entered the week with a 1-10 career record against Top 10 opponents and a 45-30 record on clay.

After falling in the second round at Madrid a year ago, Bellucci will pick up 360 for his semifinal appearance, a gain of 315 points which will move him into the Top 25, moving him close to his career-high placement of 21st reached in July of 2010.