By Chris Oddo | Wednesday March 30, 2016
Novak Djokovic maintained his domination of Tomas Berdych, notching his 20th consecutive victory over the Czech on a hard court—and fifth overall—to reach the Miami Open semifinals, 6-3, 6-3.
Monfils: Novak Is Best on Every Single Shot
The victory improves the Serb’s 2016 record to 26-1 and improves his lifetime head-to-head with Berdych to 23-3.
Djokovic and Berdych traded breaks early on, but the Czechs good fortunes didn’t last long. He was broken back in the next game and never really threatened again.
Berdych tried to be aggressive throughout, but he was pressured by Djokovic’s depth, court coverage and net play. He couldn’t find the lines and finished with 15 winners against 45 unforced errors.
In the second set, after pulling ahead by a break, Djokovic endured a spot of tension as he started to struggle with a back issue. He called for the trainer after the fifth game and spent time getting his back massaged. When he returned to action he quickly finished off Berdych without facing a break point, closing the match in one hour and 40 minutes.
The Serb clicked on four of his ten break point opportunities, and finished with ten winners against nine unforced errors on the evening. The World No. 1 won 17 of 23 points against the Berdych second serve.
Djokovic won his 14th consecutive match at Miami and improved to 8-0 vs. the Top-10 this season. The 28-year-old has reached the final of his last ten Masters 1000 events, going 53-2 in that span.
He will face David Goffin in the semifinals on Friday.