Djokovic seals semi-final spot

World number three Novak Djokovic qualified for the semi-finals of the Masters Cup after maintaining his 100% record with a below-par 7-6 (7-3) 0-6 7-5 victory over Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in Shanghai today.

Australian Open champion Djokovic secured his place at the top of the gold group after following up his opening-day win over Juan Martin del Potro, who earlier beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5).

Djokovic, 21, only showed brief flashes of the form that saw the Serbian win in Melbourne and claim Masters Series titles in Indian Wells and Rome this year, but he recovered after the second-set collapse to qualify for his first Masters Cup semi-finals.

“I did expect a close match against Nikolay,” said Djokovic. “I had very unexplainable ups and downs, especially in the second set. I was also lucky to save several break points.”

Djokovic’s win also ensured Paris Masters champion Tsonga is unable to qualify for the last four after losing both opening matches of his maiden appearance at the season-ending eight-man tournament.

In Thursday’s final group games, Argentinian Davis Cup star Del Potro will face Russia’s Davydenko, 27, for a place in the semi-finals, while Tsonga will look to claim his first Masters Cup triumph against Djokovic in a dead rubber at Qi Zhong Tennis Stadium.

Djokovic dropped serve in the opening game following a loose forehand and then allowed Davydenko to establish a 5-3 lead in only 26 minutes as the duo raced through service games.

The Serb held the ninth game to remain in the set and broke back to level at 5-5 after Davydenko gifted the service game with a double fault and unforced error as he sent a forehand long.

Up to that point, the Russian, with three titles to his name this year, had only dropped one point in each of his service games.

That handed the Australian Open champion the incentive and the 21-year-old fired several winners to take a 6-5 lead, but Davydenko held serve following an ace and wayward service return from Djokovic.

The Russian stormed into a 3-0 lead in the tie-break with two mini-breaks, but the Serbian won the next seven points as he fired back-to-back aces and Davydenko doubled-faulted on set point.

In the second set, Davydenko again raced out of the blocks and established a 5-0 lead with two breaks of serve, helped by a string of errors from Djokovic, who twice threw his racquet to the ground in frustration in the third game.

Davydenko wrapped up the second set in les than half an hour as Djokovic sent a backhand wide to bring an end to a nightmare set for the Serbian..

After Davydenko survived two break points in the first game of the deciding set, Djokovic finally won a service game as he also survived a brace of break-point opportunities, before the Russian received treatment to his ankle after taking a 2-1 lead.

With the set level at 5-5, Davydenko sent a terrible backhand volley wide before two equally below-par forehands gave Djokovic the crucial break.

In the next game, Djokovic sent a weak shot into the net on his first match point, but a piercing forehand then forced Davydenko to net to end the contest after two hours and 18 minutes.