Djokovic to meet 204th-ranked Vacherot in Shanghai Masters semi-final / Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL - AFP
Djokovic to meet 204th-ranked Vacherot in Shanghai Masters semi-final
Novak Djokovic looked far from his best Thursday but dispatched Belgium's Zizou Bergs 6-3, 7-5 to set up a Shanghai Masters semi-final against tournament surprise package Valentin Vacherot.
The 38-year-old Serbian, the highest-ranking player left standing, is getting ever closer to a fifth title in the Chinese financial hub despite struggling physically throughout the week.
Next in the crosshairs of the 24-time Grand Slam champion is world number 204 Vacherot, a qualifier from Monaco who battled back from a set down to stun Holger Rune 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
"Maybe at times (I was) a little too passive but Zizou is a great player, a very talented player, he has some great shots," Djokovic said.
"(Getting through) means the world."
Djokovic broke in the sixth game after an unforced error from the 44th-ranked Bergs.
But just days after he overcame exhaustion, vomiting and an injury scare in his last match against Spain's Jaume Munar, he looked tired and overheated.
He took a puff from an inhaler during a break in play as his team anxiously looked on, but took the first set.
Djokovic broke for a 5-4 lead in the second set, but Bergs broke back after a series of thrilling rallies that drew screams from the crowd.
The umpire had to ask the spectators for quiet multiple times as fans chanted furiously for Djokovic, waving Serbian flags and signs reading "Novak is the GOAT" (greatest of all time).
When Djokovic broke again for a 6-5 lead, the stadium erupted.
Bergs still would not lie down, saving two match points and creating another break point of his own, but Djokovic finally got over the line when the Belgian went long.
- Rune stunned -
Vacherot, the lowest ranked player to make the quarter-finals, said it would be "unreal" to face Djokovic after coming back from a set down against the world number 11 Rune.
"We know anything can happen in tennis," said Vacherot.
"It's one of the first times in my life I've played that good of a player... I was shocked by how physical he was."
Rune broke in the third and seventh games to win the first set comfortably against the 26-year-old.
Vacherot seized the chance to go ahead in the fourth game of the second set after a double fault by the 22-year-old Dane, but Rune hit back almost immediately.
Watched on by his cousin Arthur Rinderknech, who will play in the quarter-finals on Friday, Vacherot held on doggedly to force a tense tiebreak.
Rune looked increasingly rattled as he failed to assert control, and despite hitting two aces in the tiebreak, ultimately conceded the second set.
His frustration came to a head in the seventh game of the third set when he received a time violation and committed three unforced errors to hand Vacherot the break.
The Dane appeared to be struggling physically by the end, and despite his last-gasp efforts, Vacherot held to secure an unlikely victory, falling to his knees in disbelief.
"I just kept fighting harder and harder," said Vacherot.
"In the end it was just all about nerves and fitness."
H.Klein--BVZ
