Djokovic holds off Gulbis to reach Montreal semis
Novak Djokovic had to fight off an upset bid from qualifier Ernests
Gulbis, finally defeating the Latvian 5-7, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1 on Friday to
reach the semi-finals of the Montreal Masters.
|
Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates his victory against
Ernests Gulbis of Latvia during day five of the Rogers Cup
at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec,
Canada. Novak Djokovic defeated Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 7-6,
6-1. Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images/AFP |
Djokovic found himself down a set and a break against the quirky
player from the Baltics whose form comes and goes without warning.
Gulbis, whose career best was a Roland Garros semi-final in 2014, has
since gone into a funk in 2015, winning only eight matches since the
start of the year.
But the outsider rose to the big occasion as he forced his world
number one opponent to save two match points in the second-set
tiebreaker of a thriller lasting two and a half hours.
Djokovic levelled at a set apiece and re-established order as he ran
away with the third set for the win. "Very lucky" was the message he
scrawled on the camera lens during the traditional tennis match
broadcast sign-off. Djokovic is bidding for his fourth Canadian title
and the win puts him into a semi-final against unseeded Jeremy Chardy.
The other two quarter-finals of a day delayed by rain were to feature
second seed Andy Murray facing French holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and
Japan's fourth-seeded US Open finalist Kei Nishikori taking on resurgent
Rafael Nadal, the seventh seed.
Chardy booked his first career appearance in the semi-final of an ATP
Masters 1000 event, struggling for three hours to defeat John Isner 6-7
(9/11), 7-6 (15/13, 7-6 (7/4).
Chardy overcame 32 aces from the big American to reach the final
four.
(AFP) |
