Match report

Olivier Rochus © Tennistalk.com
Gerry Weber Open
Semi final
6/13/09 1 2 Tot
be  Olivier Rochus 6 4 0
rs  Novak Djokovic 7 6 2
Novak Djokovic © Tennistalk.com

  • Djokovic battles past Rochus, into Halle title match

    6/14/09 12:12 AM | Ricky Dimon
    Novak Djokovic defeats Olivier Rochus in two tight sets at the Gerry Weber Open on Saturday afternoon. Djokovic will take on Tommy Haas for the title.

    Novak Djokovic edged out Olivier Rochus 7-6(7), 6-4 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Gerry Weber Open. Djokovic needed one hour and 54 minutes of hard-fought tennis to pull off his first win over Rochus in three tries and book his place in Sunday's final.

    This one was tight the whole way. Djokovic served at 73 percent in the first set and fired seven aces, but Rochus won more than half of his second-serve return points and he broke once as the players exchanged one break each en route to a tiebreaker. The 5'6'' Belgian earned two set points in the 'breaker, the second of which he appeared to win. A Djokovic shot that appeared long, however, was called in and the heavily favored-Serb won the next two points to take the decider nine points to seven.

    Despit the setback, Rochus remained competitive throughout the second. Djokovic won it by a seemingly routine 6-4 score, but it really came down to just a few points. The world No. 4 capitalized on the only break point he saw in set two and saved the only one he faced. That was the lone difference in a set in which Djokovic won 29 points and Rochus won 28.

    Djokovic finished with 10 aces and held 10 of his 11 service games despite winning a mere 44 percent of his second-serve points. Next up for Halle's No. 2 seed is the title match against Germany's own Tommy Haas. Djokovic is 2-0 lifetime against Haas, a record that includes a straight-set victory earlier this season at the Masters Series Indian Wells.

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