|
SHANGHAI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The world's top two players Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will play against each other at the Shanghai Rolex Masters semifinals as both players sailed past respective rivals in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Murray made short work of fifth seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 while Djokovic also came through with a convincing victory, winning against Bernard Tomic of Australia at 7-6(6), 6-1.
World number one Djokovic came through some worrying moments in the opening set and won it on one hour's mark, but the he then hit top gear claiming the second in just 27 minutes.
"It was a very good first set," said Djokovic. "High quality tennis from both of us. Especially Bernard played some smart tennis, stepping in every shorter ball, serving very accurately. He pushed me."
"Obviously it was a huge relief for me to win the first set, and started off the second with a break. That gave me more confidence. I think I played a very, very good second set."
Murray had a much easier time of it, storming through after converting four of eight breaking chances against his rival.
The other semifinal will see Rafael Nadal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he has beaten in eight of their past 11 meetings.
The Spaniard dismissed Swiss fourth seed Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-1 while Tsonga survived a real test from 12th seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa winning 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4.
"It is a court that he likes to play on," Nadal said of his coming rival Tsonga. "The court is quick. He feels comfortable on these surfaces because he has a huge serve, very, very good forehand. He likes to hit the serve and then hit the forehand and go to the net. He's a very competitive player. When he's in the semifinals it's because he's playing well. So it will be a very tough match.
"I hope to play well, keep doing like every day, playing a little bit better every day. I hope tomorrow to continue with that improvement," he added.
