Djokovic grinds out win to reach finals
KEY BISCAYNE — A relieved and exhausted Novak Djokovic raised his arms seemingly more in relief than triumph.
The world No. 1 then pounded his chest before bending down to plant a kiss on the purple scuffedup Stadium Court where he continued his Miami Open mastery with a hardfought 7-6 (5), 6-4 semifinal victory over feisty David Goffin on an oppressively humid Friday afternoon.
“I wanted to make sure the court feels my love even though I felt a lot of heat from above and under as well, so there’s a lot of warm, kind of dynamic emotion going on so a little kiss just for, ‘ Goodbye, see you in two days,’ that’s all.
“I love that court because I have so much beautiful memories in the past. I won this tournament so many times, and it’s one of my favorite courts. I think sometimes we take it for granted so it’s nice to give a little kiss for the court.’’
Djokovic, 28, who has won this event five times, including the last two, will play in his seventh Sunday final in Miami against the winner of Friday night’s semifinal match between sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori and up-and-coming Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
He improved to 27-1 this year with his 15th consecutive match win on his beloved court, but it certainly wasn’t as easy as some might expect against the diminutive 15th-ranked Belgian. The first set alone took 73 minutes of long, grueling baseline rallies that needed a wacky tiebreaker to resolve.
Goffin, 25, playing the best tennis of his career, reached his second consecutive Masters 1000 semifinal (and first of his career), having lost in Indian Wells to Milos Raonic. He will be ranked a careerhigh No. 13 next week.
He served early notice that he wouldn’t be intimidated by Djokovic at 3-3 of the first set when he held serve in a six-deuce game in which he saved two break points. Despite his petite 5-foot-11, 150-pound frame, Goffin possesses a lethal serve, including a wide slider into the alley that takes his opponents off the court. Prior to the semifinal, Goffin had held serve in 37 of 39 service games while saving three of just five break points.
Goffin then broke a tired-looking Djokovic in the next game, but as great champions do, the slender Serb broke right back to eventually lead to a tiebreaker. Goffin pounded out a couple of 120-mph aces and after a couple of mini-breaks the turning point of the tiebreaker came on the 4-4 point.
Goffin’s service return set up an absolute overhead sitter on top of the net, but the 25-year-old Belgian inexplicably smashed it right back to a surprised Djokovic on the baseline, where after seemingly conceding the point, he patty-caked it back. Goffin’s timid replay enabled Djokovic to take the pivotal point with a drop volley.
An unforced forehand error by Goffin, followed by his spectacular half-volley winner on the first set point against, led to a rally in which Goffin hit consecutive forehand volleys only to meekly return Djokovic’s lob with an overhead backhand into the net to wrap up a highly competitive opening set.
“Against Djokovic you have to make every point,’’ said Goffin, now 0-4 against Djokovic and 2-26 versus Top 10 players. “You have to go for your shots. He doesn’t give you anything. It’s tough if you’re not there for two seconds you lose the game.”
The second set was on serve at 2-3 when Djokovic took some extra time after a long rally in which he jammed his foot only to be hit by ridiculous code violation by chair umpire Lars Graff.
An upset Djokovic had a long chat with Graff before wrapping up the game when Goffin’s wild forehand smacked off the back wall.