Djokovic enters semis in Belgrade; Nadal, Tsitsipas sail in Barcelona
BELGRADE: World number one Novak Djokovic stayed on course for a third Belgrade title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 quarter-final win over compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic on Friday.
Djokovic, the 2009 and 2011 champion at the event which is played at a venue which carries his name, will face either Russia’s Aslan Karatsev or Gianluca Mager of Italy for a place in the final.
In their first meeting, Djokovic broke his 21-year-old opponent’s first service game and repeated the feat for a 5-1 lead in the opener.
His only blip was when he was broken as he served for the match at 5-2 in the second set.
However, it was a brief respite for world number 47 Kecmanovic who handed back the break in the next game allowing the top seed to complete a 75-minute win.
Djokovic, who captured an 18th Grand Slam title in Australia in February, opened his clay court campaign in Monaco last week where he suffered a surprise last-16 loss to Britain’s Dan Evans.
NADAL BEAT NORRIE: Rafael Nadal stepped up his bid for a 12th Barcelona Open title with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals on Friday, while Stefanos Tsitsipas will play Jannik Sinner in the last four.
Nadal, who captured his first Barcelona title as an 18-year-old at the 2005 tournament, will face Diego Schwartzman or Pablo Carreno Busta in Saturday’s semi-finals.
Top seed Nadal broke world number 58 Norrie twice in both sets for his second win of the year over the Briton, having also defeated him in straight sets in the third round of the Australian Open.
Monte Carlo champion Tsitsipas swept aside Felix Auger-aliassime, the Canadian who recently teamed up with Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of the 20-time Grand Slam winner.
Tsitsipas, fresh off his first Masters 1000 crown last week, extended his winning run to eight matches with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Italian 19-year-old Jannik Sinner became the event’s youngest semi-finalist since Nadal in 2005 ater overcoming Monte Carlo runner-up Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
BARTY DOWNS PLISKOVA: World number one Ashleigh Barty fought back to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Stutgart clay-court tournament with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over Karolina Pliskova on Friday.
The Australian, who turns 25 on Saturday, rallied ater a dream first set in the quarter-final from Pliskova, who broke Barty twice.
However, Barty broke the Czech to start the second set and begin her recovery.
Pliskova, the 2018 Stutgart champion, served for the match at 5-4 in the decider couldn’t close it out as Barty converted her fith break point in a marathon game.
Barty then held to love and secured victory in the following game on her second match point.
“I missed some returns, but Karolina is a fierce competitor who has been at the top of her game for a long time,” said Barty.
“I knew I’d have to do something special to claw my way back and get back on my terms.”
The 2019 French Open winner will face either Petra Kvitova, the 2019 Stutgart champion, or fourth seed Elina Svitolina in Saturday’s semi-final.