By Chris Oddo | Friday July 29, 2016

Novak Djokovic struggled early in his 27th meeting with 5th-seeded Tomas Berdych at the Rogers Cup on Friday night in Toronto, but when it came to the big points, the world No. 1 seemed to draw upon past experience to gain the upper hand in his 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over the Czech.

Highlights, GIFs, Stats: Rogers Cup Quarterfinal Live Blog

Djokovic saved three set points in the first set tiebreaker after squandering a break advantage earlier in the set, winning five consecutive points to close out the tense opener.

Berdych had a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker with two serves to his name, but when he double-faulted to bring the score to 6-4, things started to look ominous. A gorgeous forehand return from Djokovic froze Berdych on the next point, forcing him to net a forehand for 6-5, and a second-serve return error allowed Djokovic to draw level at 6-all.

Berdych failed to put another second-serve return in play on the next point, sailing a forehand long, and Djokovic took the set on the next point when Berdych airmailed another forehand.

It was a frustrating first set for Berdych, who battled back from a break down and had multiple break points to take a 6-5 lead, before collapsing in the breaker.

That frustration carried over into the second set and Berdych was broken in the third game when his backhand found the net.

He would never see another break point as Djokovic dropped only one first-serve point in the second set and cruised to his 25th victory in 27 matches against Berdych.

Berdych has dropped fourteen straight sets against Djokovic and 12 straight decisions.

Djokovic advances to face Gael Monfils in the semifinals on Saturday. Monfils produced a brilliant performance to knock off No. 4-seeded Milos Raonic late Friday, saving all four break points he faced and committing only eight unforced errors.

The Serb took over the ATP lead in victories for 2016, improving his record to 49-4.

Notes, Numbers

Djokovic has advanced to 13 of his last 14 Masters 1000 events, winning ten.

Berdych has now lost 17 straight matches against Top 5 opposition.

Djokovic improved to 31-1 on hard courts in 2016 with the win.