Djokovic extends hot streak in China Open
Nadal survives Sock scare to set up revenge match against Fognini
>> BEIJING: Novak Djokovic’s China Open charge showed no sign of slowing as he destroyed towering American No.1 John Isner 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals in a lightning 52 minutes yesterday.
The top-ranked Serb brushed off the 6ft 10in (2.08m) Isner to clock up his 27th straight victory at a tournament where he has never been beaten and has now won 23 sets in a row.
The lop-sided defeat was almost embarrassing for the 13th-ranked Isner, clocking in a shade quicker than Djokovic’s similar straight-set humiliation of China’s 219th-ranked Zhang Ze in the previous round.
Djokovic finished off Isner with a service winner on his first match point to move past Jimmy Connors and into sole second place for best unbeaten starts at a tournament, behind Nadal’s 31 at the French Open.
Next up for the seemingly unstoppable Serb, who won three out of four Grand Slam finals this year to reach 10 major titles, is Spain’s David Ferrer, who beat Taiwanese wildcard Lu Yenhsun 6-3, 6-1.
Earlier, life was a little trickier for Rafael Nadal as he was forced to come from a set down against America’s Jack Sock before setting up a chance for revenge in the semi-finals against Fabio Fognini.
The out-of-sorts Spanish great, scrapping to recover his form after a tough year, was outgunned by Sock’s howitzer forehand but he dug deep to see off the world No.30, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
“Yes, it was an important victory for me. Obviously I finished the match playing better than what I started. It’s important because I came back,” Nadal said.
“This year I lost a lot of matches when I had an advantage. So to have the chance to win a match when I start losing this one, so it’s important for me, too.”
Nadal, into his first hardcourt semifinal for more than a year, will now face Fognini, who has beaten him three times this season including in last month’s US Open third round.
“He’s a great player. When you play against a great player, especially if you don’t play to your best, your chances are lower,” Nadal said of the Italian, who beat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.
In the women’s draw, Ana Ivanovic beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 7-5 to set up a semi-final with Timea Bacsinszky, who recovered from a first-set ‘bagel’ to beat Sara Errani 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Agnieszka Radwanska beat Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 to go into a semifinal clash with Garbine Muguruza, who halted the run of American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 7-5.
In Tokyo, French Open champion Stan Wawrinka sailed into the semifinals of the Japan Open yesterday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over American Austin Krajicek.
Wawrinka, who has already won three titles this year including his second Grand Slam in Paris, needed just 50 minutes to defeat Krajicek.
The Swiss will play Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller today after he upset French third seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
Kei Nishikori fought back to beat Marin Cilic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to record his second successive win against the player who beat him in last year’s US Open final.
Nishikori, who won his home tournament in 2012 and 2014, set up a showdown with Frenchman Benoit Paire for a place in tomorrow’s final.
Paire ralllied to beat Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.