Recent Beijing finalists Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych will contest quarterfinal matches in Shanghai on Friday. They are set for respective meetings with David Ferrer and Gilles Simon.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (5) David Ferrer
Djokovic and Ferrer will be facing each other for the 18th time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday. They most recently collided earlier this season on the clay courts of Rome, where Djokovic prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. The Serb leads their overall head-to-head series 12-5, including 10-2 on hard courts. This is their second meeting on the Asian swing, with Djokovic having previously triumphed 6-2, 6-4 in the 2010 Beijing final.
Ferrer is coming off a much-needed win over Andy Murray on Thursday. The fifth-ranked Spaniard’s run this week is helping erase demons of opening losses in both Shenzhen and Tokyo while also improving his World Tour Finals chances. Djokovic is coming off a dominant performance in Beijing, but he needed three sets to get past Mikhail Kukushkin in the Shanghai third round. That wakeup call could be of use for the world No. 1, who had been easing through everyone and everything in site. Ferrer will provide another good test, but the surface and the setting favor Djokovic.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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(6) Tomas Berdych vs. Gilles Simon
Berdych and Simon will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers on Friday. Simon leads the head-to-head series 5-3, having won three of their last four encounters. Berdych, though, came out on top in their last meeting with a 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-5 victory in the 2013 Bangkok semifinals. They have faced each other once in Shanghai, with Simon prevailing in a 2009 third-round meeting via a 6-3, 6-4 decision.
Both men have been in outstanding form this week. Simon dropped his opening set to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez but then rolled past the Spaniard, upset Stan Wawrinka in three, than made quick work of Malek Jaziri on Thursday. Berdych got a first-round bye before crushing both Richard Gasquet and Ivo Karlovic. The seventh-ranked Czech is a stellar 47-17 for the season, while Simon only started rounding into form at the U.S. Open and is now 25-22 for his 2014 campaign. Although the Frenchman’s consistent baseline play has the tendency to break down Berdych, Shanghai’s No. 6 seed is playing the kind of tennis right now that can overpower Simon on this surface.
Pick: Berdych in 3
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First set goes to Gillou.
This is a battle royal between Berdy and Gillou. I lean towards Ricky’s assessment that Berdych will manage to overpower Simon.
Not today though! Simon the backboard survives.
Berdych should say: ¤¤ “I met somebody in the quarterfinal who I’ve never seen before. The way that he performed today was really outstanding. There is really not much I can add to that because, really, I was just swept off the court.”
Maybe he still had a hangover from the pasting he received in Beijing.
Major choke by Feli serving for the match 🙁
Feli won the match!
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/hand-gestures/clapping-happy-smiley-emoticon.gif
Yes. Pleased for him.
Why is Djokovic so boorish? He is the #1 player in the world, he is playing Ferru and yet Djokovic celebrates winning the 1st set as if he was crazy.
^^^ ––Why is Djokovic so boorish?––––
Because he is a boor! In the world of sport today showboating has become acceptable but gloating at beating the opposition is still a no, no. Doubly so before the conclusion of the match.
Hawkeye is right. Standards are slipping.
Djokovic shamelessly aping Rafa, taking off his sweaty shirt on-court after the match, toweling off to show a disturbing hairy chest.
Poor imitation.
rafaisthebest ( at 12:19 pm)
Rafa is the role model! 🙂
I tried to stay up to see Berdy and Simon, but couldn’t make it. I am so happy to see that Simon won! Good for him!
I am not surprised to see Novak beat Ferrer easily. Also, great to see Feli getting through.