Novak Djokovic beats Tomas Berdych in Rogers Cup
Saturday 30 July 2016 09:01, UK
Novak Djokovic conceded he needed some luck to earn a place in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup, following a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Tomas Berdych.
The top seed, who has three Canadian titles already, was tested in a 71-minute opening set but survived before motoring to victory.
Djokovic required two hours to seal his win, claiming his 12th straight victory over Berdych - the Czech has now lost 17 successive matches against top five opponents.
But it was not all one-way traffic for Djokovic, who struggled to close out a testing tiebreaker.
Berdych showed his desire by winning five consecutive points from 1-3 down in the first-set decider, only to miss on three set points as he finally handed over the set to his opponent.
But Djokovic earned a second-set break for 2-1 and rode the margin to his eventual victory in a match which was well below his best level.
"I don't know how I got out of that tiebreak," Djokovic said. "I guess I was just able to focus on the next point.
"Tomas had a double-fault (on set point) and some errors. I was very fortunate to win that first set. I really had some relief going into the second."
Djokovic will line up on Saturday night against on-form Frenchman Gael Monfils, who dominated Canadian fourth-seeded and home favourite Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4 in 72 minutes.
