Geneva A fierce retaliation at the Geneva Open marked Novak Djokovic’s 38th birthday. For the second year in a row, the second seed advanced to the clay ATP 250 event semi-finals by defeating Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic, who lost to Arnaldi at the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid last month, won the second set in an hour and forty minutes after winning five consecutive games from 1-4.
Being in the semi-finals once again is fantastic. The objective is to hopefully advance at least one step this year. I believe my tennis skills are excellent. a victory in straight sets, but the score doesn’t reflect how close it was. Even though I was down 4-1 in the second, I managed to win every game.
When it was most required, I was able to play my best tennis because I was in the finest possible mental and emotional equilibrium. “Hopefully, I can continue that tomorrow,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic is currently two wins away from winning his 100th tour-level title, which would make him one of only three players in the Open Era to reach the triple-digit milestone, along with Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109).
The Serb’s next opponent will be Cameron Norrie, a qualifier. The British player advanced to his sixth clay-court tour-level semifinal, his first since Rio de Janeiro last year, defeating fifth seed Alexei Popyrin 7-6(6), 6-4.
Hubert Hurkacz maintained his impressive form in the opposite half of the draw, defeating top seed Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-6(5) in a superb serving contest.
Hurkacz won the last clay-court ATP 250 he played in Estoril last year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome last week. At 5/5, he answered with an ace down the center before converting his lone match point, down 1/3 against Fritz in the second-set tie-break.
The next opponent Hurkacz will play is Sebastian Ofner, a qualifier who defeated fourth seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. After making it to the title match at the grass-court ATP 250 in Mallorca the previous year, Ofner will try to make it to his second final.
