For the ninth year in a row, the name Novak Djokovic will figure in the final four of the US Open men’s draw.
The number one seed – and World Number One – fought off a tricky opponent in the highly unorthodox Feliciano Lopez in a tough, 2 1/2 hour 4-set match.
Lopez, the 18th seeded Spaniard, has a rarely-seen left-handed serve/volley game-plan that proved difficult for Djokovic to overcome, particularly after the first set. Though Djokovic steamrolled through that 6-1, Lopez hit back in the second, frustrating Djokovic on a number of occasions to take the set 6-3.
Despite only breaking Djokovic’s serve once during the match, Lopez threw everything he had at Djokovic, forcing the fourth set into a tense tiebreaker, before Novak put on the afterburners and pushed the challenger aside to take the match out 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
The win puts Novak into an astonishing ninth straight US Open semi-final, as he chases a second win at the tournament which has proven almost as elusive to him throughout his career as the French Open has.
Djokovic now faces defending US Open champion Marin ?ili? in his semi-final, after ?ilic? managed to see off Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in a bruising 5-set quarter final encounter that lasted nigh on 4 hours.
In the remaining two quarter finals, Swiss 5th seed Stan Wawrinka faces South African Kevin Anderson, whilst Frenchman Richard Gasquet clashes with the 2nd-seeded Roger Federer.
Photo: Clive Brunskill via Getty Images.
