Djokovic To Meet Nishikori In SFs

© AFP/Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic beat Kei Nishikori in their only tour-level meeting at 2010 Roland Garros.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was forced to work for his 67th match win of the season on Friday when he extended his record to 5-0 against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory for a place in the Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finals.

The 2009 champion won seven straight games for a 3-0 lead in the decider, breaking Baghdatis' serve for the first time in the sixth game of the second set. Baghdatis - the 2005 runner-up (l. to Gonzalez) - hit 12 aces and seven double faults, while Djokovic converted all three of his break point opportunities for victory in one hour and 39 minutes.

"A win is a win," said Djokovic. "It was a close match. I’ve got to give credit to him because he played really well. He served throughout the whole match really well. I managed to get a couple of crucial breaks towards the end of the second and start of the third set and I think that decided the match.

"I know that things will get better for me; I just have to stay patient and work hard. These matches actually give me more confidence and energy, because I don’t play well and still manage to win."

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Djokovic will next face Japanese wild card Kei Nishikori, who advanced to his sixth tour-level semi-final (or better) this year, with a hard-fought 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kazakhstani lucky loser Mikhail Kukushkin in two hours and 40 minutes. World No. 32 Nishikori has a 35-20 season record, including a runner-up finish at the US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston (l. to Sweeting).

"It's a great feeling to reach three semi-finals in six weeks," said Nishikori. "I knew it was going to be a tough week. Beating Tomas Berdych in the first round and getting to the semi-finals has been a great experience.

"Djokovic is playing unbelievable this year. He doesn't have many weaknesses, so I will need to play a bit more aggressive than usual and play my best tennis to beat him."

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