New Delhi: Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic defeated Italian Matteo Berrettini 3-1 in a Men’s Singles quarterfinal on Thursday to sail into the semi-final of the US Open 2021, being played at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
The World No. 1 is now only two matches away to break the tie and win the 21st Grand Slam title.
The opening set repeatedly ran into deuces and had Berrettini leading by 5-7. It was the second set, however, that marked a breakpoint for his cross-court serve. Djokovic capitalized on the opportunity and won by 6-2.
Djokovic dominated the next two sets by 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, as his opponent’s forehands were weak and backhands kept landing in the net.
Berrettini’s back-to-back aces failed to save him from Djokovic’s hit smashes.
Now Djokovic will face World No. 4 German player Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals after losing to him in Men’s Singles semi-finals in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
(Avya Mathur)