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The world number 1, Novak Djokovic, sent a strong message on Saturday: he is in great shape again.
Djokovic reached his third final of the Mutua Madrid Open beating fifth seed Dominic Thiem 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). The Serb, who is participating in his first final since his victory at the Australian Open, has ended the Barcelona champion's eight-game winning streak, eliminating the Austrian after a physical battle of basis which lasted two hours and 22 minutes.
"I've played the best game of the season on clay right now, against me, arguably the best tennis player in the world on this surface, until now. [this season]"said Djokovic.[Dominic] had an incredible tournament in Barcelona and here he beat Roger yesterday in a thrilling match. So he was fit … I just managed to keep myself nervous and play at best when it was most needed. "
The two-time Madrid champion, who has played only a quarter-final in three tournaments since winning in Melbourne, is trying to bring Rafael Nadal's record up to 33 ATP Masters 1000. When Djokovic won a semifinal at the Caja Magica (2011 and 2016), he has each time raised the trophy. The Serb will face on Sunday Rafael Nadal, world No. 2, or the defending champion of the next generation ATP Finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
From the start, Thiem seemed to be riding on his quarter-final win over Roger Federer, using his power to crush Djokovic for an early break. But the seed remained calm and raised to match Thiem's thrust, showing an incredible defense to win his first break point. Djokovic did not miss the opportunity because Thiem missed a forehand coming from inside a difficult position to make the break.
Thiem had two more chances to break Djokovic at 4-4, and a second violation attributed to Serbia forced Djokovic to defend the first of those chances in his second serve. But the seed still raises his level to serve. And at the starting point, Djokovic's defense was too strong, forcing Thiem to commit non-forced mistakes.
But the physical character of Thiem's base game apparently began to use the defenses of Djokovic, who broke 4-2 in the second set after a match that lasted more than 10 minutes. But in the next match, Djokovic immediately put pressure on the Austrian with returns that landed near the baseline to return to service.
The twists continued as the world No. 1 served for the match at 6-5, but the double missed its advantage. However, Djokovic maintained his concentration in the decisive game and played in the championship game at his first opportunity, when Thiem equalized the setback.
Thiem had won the last two editions of the FedEx ATP Head2Head pair, which have both been on clay (Roland Garros 2017 and 2018 Monte Carlo), but Djokovic now has a 6-2 advantage in his rivalry.
"I never complain [reaching an ATP Masters] 1000 semi-final. This is a very good result, "said Thiem. I beat three very good players and I lost [in two tie-break sets] at Djokovic … It was a very good tournament and now I'm going to enjoy the double [semi-final]. "
Did you know?
Djokovic now has 199 wins against the top 10 opponents (199-90). It's more wins against the elite group than the other three Madrid semi-finalists combined (189-133).
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