Djokovic books place in semis

Novak Djokovic completed a blockbuster semi-final line-up at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a routine 6-2 6-3 victory over a lacklustre Andy Roddick tonight.

The Serb will play Group B winner Roger Federer while world number one Rafael Nadal, who beat Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 earlier today to ensure top spot in Group A, faces Andy Murray.

Roddick had to win in straight sets to progress but that never looked likely after Djokovic broke the eighth seed’s serve early on, and from there he wasted little time polishing off victory.

The 23-year-old said: “It’s definitely a great achievement to get to the semi-finals. It’s great for the tournament to have the top four guys in the semi-finals.”

Djokovic is renowned for his sense of humour, and he walked out for the match wearing an eye patch in reference to the right eye problems which had hampered him in his defeat by Nadal on Wednesday.

Perhaps surprisingly, Roddick led their head-to-head 5-2 going into the match and had won their last four matches, three of them in straight sets.

So the American’s chances were not as remote as they might have seemed, and he made a flying start, fashioning a break point in the first game.

A tentative backhand into the net put paid to that chance, though, and three games later it was the American who was under pressure. Djokovic made no such mistake with his break point, profiting from an errant Roddick forehand to move 3-1 ahead.

The third seed was certainly having no trouble judging the ball tonight as he sent his opponent scampering to all parts of the court.

Roddick’s body language indicated he did not believe he could claw back the deficit, and another break in the eighth game sealed his fate and sent Djokovic through to the last four.

There was still the rest of the match to be completed, of course, but it was never likely to detain Djokovic for too long, and he duly broke in the fourth game of the second set when Roddick double-faulted.

A last-gasp effort from the former world number one took him to 0-30 with Djokovic serving for the match, but the response was swift and after only 67 minutes the pair were shaking hands.