DOHA: Novak Djokovic eased through to his first semifinal of the season at the Qatar Open on Thursday and denied evergreen veteran Radek Stepanek the chance to make history.
Djokovic won 6-3, 6-3 in testing, blustery conditions to set up a semifinal against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
If the 38-year-old Stepanek had won he would have been the oldest player to have qualified for an ATP semifinal in almost 25 years, since a 40-year-old Jimmy Connors reached the last four in San Francisco in 1993.
“It’s exciting, you obviously want to start the year off in the best possible way, that’s three wins out of three,” said Djokovic immediately afterwards.
“It’s always a great test in these kind of conditions, it’s never easy for the players.”
Djokovic, the defending champion in Doha, dominated throughout the 91-minute match.
The victory secured a 12th straight win for the Serb against Stepanek and extended his set-winning streak in Qatar to 16.
Djokovic won last year’s title without dropping a set, and he is yet to do so this year.
He is also on course to meet the man who took away his world No.1 spot at the end of last season, Andy Murray in Saturday’s final.
Murray was due on court later on Thursday against Spain’s Nicolas Almagro in another last-eight clash.
Earlier, Verdasco won through easily 6-2, 7-5, against another veteran, Ivo Karlovic.
The giant Croatian, 37, is currently ranked 20 in the world and is the oldest top 20 player since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1978.
He is also the last man to beat Djokovic in Doha, back in 2015.
The semifinal line-up will be completed on Thursday when Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No.3 and five seeds in Doha, face off.
Meanwhile, the night was not over for Stepanek, who rushed off court to play in the doubles’ semifinals with partner Vasek Pospisil.
Raonic sets up mouthwatering Nadal clash
In Brisbane, defending champion and top seed Milos Raonic cruised into the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International with a regulation 6-3, 6-2 win over Argentine Diego Schwartzman on Thursday.
Raonic, who beat Roger Federer to win the 2016 Brisbane title, will now take on Rafael Nadal for a place in the semifinals after the Spaniard crushed Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-1, 6-1.
Raonic broke Schwartzman once in the first set and three times in the second to wrap up the match in 69 minutes, but said he wasn’t happy with his start.
“At the beginning I really struggled that first service game, and had another close service game before I started to get in on his games,” Raonic said.
“Then I could feel I started imposing myself on him. He started making some mistakes and I was able to create some things as well.
“I have to be glad with how I finished.”
Nadal wasted no time in his 55-minute demolition of Zverev to the delight of the packed crowd in Pat Rafter Arena.
The 14-time Grand Slam singles winner gave Zverev no chance, blasting 30 winners across the two sets and making only seven unforced errors.
Nadal was troubled by illness and injury in 2016 and said he was thrilled to be back on court fully fit.
“After injuries and hard times it’s so special to be back on court,” he said.
“Tomorrow (against Raonic) it’s going to be a very hard match.
“He likes this court and he’s had some good results here. I hope to play at my best and If I do I’ll have a good chance.”
Fourth seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem saw off huge serving Australian Sam Groth 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
The Australian was granted a wildcard into the tournament and won his first round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
But once his serve dropped off slightly in the second set Thiem was able to secure a comfortable win.
“I’m pretty satisfied with the victory because he served very well, especially in the first set,” Thiem said.
“He had over 70 percent first serves in and if he has this it’s very tough to break him.
“But I played a good tiebreak and in the second set I started to return better and luckily I got one break.”
Thiem will play Bulgaria’s seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals following Dimitrov’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.
Dimitrov broke Mahut twice in the first set and once in the second to make the final eight in Brisbane for the second year in a row.
Djokovic won 6-3, 6-3 in testing, blustery conditions to set up a semifinal against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
If the 38-year-old Stepanek had won he would have been the oldest player to have qualified for an ATP semifinal in almost 25 years, since a 40-year-old Jimmy Connors reached the last four in San Francisco in 1993.
“It’s exciting, you obviously want to start the year off in the best possible way, that’s three wins out of three,” said Djokovic immediately afterwards.
“It’s always a great test in these kind of conditions, it’s never easy for the players.”
Djokovic, the defending champion in Doha, dominated throughout the 91-minute match.
The victory secured a 12th straight win for the Serb against Stepanek and extended his set-winning streak in Qatar to 16.
Djokovic won last year’s title without dropping a set, and he is yet to do so this year.
He is also on course to meet the man who took away his world No.1 spot at the end of last season, Andy Murray in Saturday’s final.
Murray was due on court later on Thursday against Spain’s Nicolas Almagro in another last-eight clash.
Earlier, Verdasco won through easily 6-2, 7-5, against another veteran, Ivo Karlovic.
The giant Croatian, 37, is currently ranked 20 in the world and is the oldest top 20 player since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1978.
He is also the last man to beat Djokovic in Doha, back in 2015.
The semifinal line-up will be completed on Thursday when Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No.3 and five seeds in Doha, face off.
Meanwhile, the night was not over for Stepanek, who rushed off court to play in the doubles’ semifinals with partner Vasek Pospisil.
Raonic sets up mouthwatering Nadal clash
In Brisbane, defending champion and top seed Milos Raonic cruised into the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International with a regulation 6-3, 6-2 win over Argentine Diego Schwartzman on Thursday.
Raonic, who beat Roger Federer to win the 2016 Brisbane title, will now take on Rafael Nadal for a place in the semifinals after the Spaniard crushed Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-1, 6-1.
Raonic broke Schwartzman once in the first set and three times in the second to wrap up the match in 69 minutes, but said he wasn’t happy with his start.
“At the beginning I really struggled that first service game, and had another close service game before I started to get in on his games,” Raonic said.
“Then I could feel I started imposing myself on him. He started making some mistakes and I was able to create some things as well.
“I have to be glad with how I finished.”
Nadal wasted no time in his 55-minute demolition of Zverev to the delight of the packed crowd in Pat Rafter Arena.
The 14-time Grand Slam singles winner gave Zverev no chance, blasting 30 winners across the two sets and making only seven unforced errors.
Nadal was troubled by illness and injury in 2016 and said he was thrilled to be back on court fully fit.
“After injuries and hard times it’s so special to be back on court,” he said.
“Tomorrow (against Raonic) it’s going to be a very hard match.
“He likes this court and he’s had some good results here. I hope to play at my best and If I do I’ll have a good chance.”
Fourth seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem saw off huge serving Australian Sam Groth 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
The Australian was granted a wildcard into the tournament and won his first round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
But once his serve dropped off slightly in the second set Thiem was able to secure a comfortable win.
“I’m pretty satisfied with the victory because he served very well, especially in the first set,” Thiem said.
“He had over 70 percent first serves in and if he has this it’s very tough to break him.
“But I played a good tiebreak and in the second set I started to return better and luckily I got one break.”
Thiem will play Bulgaria’s seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals following Dimitrov’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.
Dimitrov broke Mahut twice in the first set and once in the second to make the final eight in Brisbane for the second year in a row.
