By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, October 16, 2015

 

Novak Djokovic wore down Bernard Tomic, 7-6 (6), 6-1, to score his 15th straight win and surge into the Shanghai Rolex Masters sermifinals.

Photo credit: Shanghai Rolex Masters

Bernard Tomic tested Novak Djokovic severely in the first set. The top-seeded Serbian dusted Tomic thoroughly in the second.

Djokovic hit 10 aces dispatching Tomic, 7-6 (6), 6-1, to score his 15th straight win and surge into the Shanghai Rolex Masters semifinals.

It was the first time since his four-set win over Roger Federer in the US Open final that Djokovic dropped more than three games in a single set, but he quickly restored order to close an impressive win.

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The world No. 1 has won 18 consecutive sets to raise his run in China to 36-1—and continue to put distance between himself and the rest of the ATP pack.

Continuing his quest for his ninth title of the season, Djokovic will play Andy Murray in tomorrow's semifinals. Djokovic is 19-9 lifetime against his former junior rival though Murray won their most recent encounter, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in the Rogers Cup final.

The third-seeded Scot thrashed fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych, 6-1, 6-3, in today's closing quarterfinal. Murray won nine of the first 10 games and never looked back, serving eight aces to advance to his 11th semifinal of the season.

"I think I'm hitting the ball very clean from the back of the court," Murray said. "I'm not making loads of unforced errors."

The 20th-ranked Tomic, who dug in to defeat 11th-seeded Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-4, on Thursday, stood toe-to-toe with his friend and sometime practice partner throughout the opening set.

A barrage of crosscourt backhands helped Djokovic draw a netted backhand breaking for 4-2. Tomic broke right back before holding at 30 to level at 4-all.

It's rare to see Djokovic wrong-footed on a court. Rarer still to see him wrong-footed into imbalance, but Tomic, whose ability to take the ball early and fire flat strikes makes his shot tough to read, did just that hitting behind the Beijing champion to hold for 5-5.

The quality of rallies rose in the tie break as Djokovic won a crackling 29-shot duel for 4-3 that left his opponent looking winded and weary. A Djokovic drop volley that Tomic could not control, followed by a missed forehand from the Aussie gave Djokovic two set points at 6-4 in the tie break. Tomic saved both, belting a backhand down the line for 6-all.

That was his last stand. Djokovic won a rapid-fire net exchange for a third set point. Grunting louder while laboring to stay in step, Tomic netted a backhand as Djokovic close the first set.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion is the smoother mover and plays with more spin on all of his shots gaining access to angles the 6-foot-5 Aussie cannot match. Djokovic spread the court with sharper angles as he broke to open the second set.

Physical, grinding rallies sapped the strength from Tomic's legs. Djokovic scored his second break of the set for 4-1.

Tomic saved three match points, but double faulted into net on the fourth ending an entertaining 87-minute match.

Controlling most rallies in the second set, Djokovic raised his 2015 record to 71-5 playing with the confidence a man intent on extending his winning streak in China.