By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, June 2, 2016
Novak Djokovic dismissed Tomas Berdych for the 11th straight time advancing to his eighth Roland Garros semifinal where he'll play Dominic Thiem.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Jerking Tomas Berdych from side-to-side with ruthless precision, Novak Djokovic pinned the big man behind the baseline.
Then Djokovic pulled the string befuddling Berdych with a soft drop shot that froze him with a familiar sting.
Watch: Thiem Terminates 100 MPH Forehand
Berdych wore a bold zebra-patterned shirt, but could not shirk the long leash Djokovic holds.
When Djokovic wasn't busy bruising Berdych with deep drives he bewildered him with finesse outclassing the Czech, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, advancing to his eighth Roland Garros semifinal.
It is Djokovic's 26th consecutive Grand Slam victory and sends him into his 30th career major semifinal, which is third on the Open Era list behind only Roger Federer (39 semifinals) and Jimmy Connors (31 semifinals). He has not lost a major match since falling to Stan Wawrinka in the 2015 French Open final.
Exploiting the sludge surface and his oponent's slower movement, Djokovic debilitated Berdych with the dropper.
"Especially in these conditions it's good to have this shot in your game. That's all I can say," Djokovic said afterward. "Particularly when I play a player like Tomas that, you know, is not as great of a mover maybe as somebody else around the court, forward, backwards, and so I tried to expose his movement and his weaknesses. When the court is wet, when the conditions are slow, of course it does work better than when it's not."
Djokovic's eight final four appearances in Paris are second most in the Open Era behind only nine-time champion Rafael Nadal.
An efficient victory puts Djokovic exactly where he wants to be: Two wins away from capturing his first career Roland Garros title to complete the Grand Slam.
The world No. 1 will face Dominic Thiem for a spot in the final.
The 13th-seeded Thiem wore down good friend and sometime practice partner David Goffin, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-1, joining Thomas Muster and Jurgen Melzer as the third Austrian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
Thiem, who owns a 40-10 record, is second to Djokovic for most wins in the ATP Tour this season and leads the circuit in clay-court victories with a 25-5 record on dirt this season.
There is a time and place for everything.
Facing Djokovic on a tennis court is never a good time or place for Berdych.
While fans were wrapped beneath blankets warding off the dank drizzle, Djokovic exposed the shortcomings in the 2010 semifinalist's game.
The world No. 1 scored his 11th consecutive win over Berdych, extending his dominance in their head-to-head series to 24-2.
Djokovic is quicker around the court, plays with more spin on every shot which gives him access to more angles and punishes Berdych's slice serve. Djokovic converted six of eight break points and won 22 of 35 points played on his opponent's second serve.
Elite players often exhibit anticipation; Djokovic plays with prescience, which is very unsettling to the flat-hitting power player. Even when Berdych appeared to create space, Djokovic was quick to shrink it and stretch the seventh seed with an angled reply.
“I would point to one thing that I think is the best part of his game, that he has one skill that is very unique: He really can read the game,” Berdych has said of Djokovic. “When you have that really big skill it's amazing and he's proving it.” The 11-time Grand Slam champion began reading the serve and ripping his returns midway through the opener. Djokovic broke twice in succession to seize the first set, then scored his third straight break for a 2-0 second-set lead.
Sliding into an angled backhand, the flawless top seed left Berdych looking forlorn and flat-footed reeling off his sixth straight game.
A reeling Berdych stabilized his slide by hitting deeper down the middle to deny Djokovic angles. Striking cleaner shots, Czech earned triple break point in the seventh game. Djokovic defended a snapping return down the line to deny the second break point.
Hitting off his back foot, the top seed sailed a forehand as Berdych broke with a shout for 3-4. When Berdych backed up the break to level, he'd won four of the last five games.
Throughout the match, Djokovic masterfully mixed depth with drop shots and short angles, yanking Berdych back and forth like a marionette. Djokovic put Berdych in a triple set point corner the Czech could not escape in the 12th game.
Pinning Berdych behind the baseline with a series of deep drives, Djokovic drew the scattered forehand that seemed inevitable, locking down a two-set lead.
A beautifully-executed drop shot-lob combination left Berdych waving at air and helped Djokovic break for a 5-3 lead in the decider.
Streaming through the third set as if determined to beat the misty drizzle before it swelled to a full shower, Djokovic slid a serve winner down the middle wrapping up a tidy two hour, six-minute victory on a damp day.
Djokovic, once a rising young talent himself, recognizes the danger the 13th-seeded Thiem poses. Though Djokovic has won both of their meetings, including a straight-sets win in Miami in March, he knows Thiem is a threat.
"He's one of the leaders of the new generation. I'm sure he's very motivated to show himself and others that he deserves to be at the top and compete for biggest titles," Djokovic said. "He's playing the best tennis of his life, no doubt about it. The results are showing that. He's been playing a lot, you know, this year, practically every week since February, March. He's been keeping fit, as well, which is quite amazing for somebody that haven't had that kind of scheduling before in his career."