Novak Djokovic qualified for the semi-finals in Geneva and celebrated his birthday with a victory

23/05/2025 13:49:00 pandatv

On Thursday, Novak Djokovic celebrated his 38th birthday with a hard-fought battle of revenge at the Geneva Open.

He defeated Italy's Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals of the clay-court ATP 250 tournament for the second year in a row.

Djokovic, who lost to Alnaldi at the Madrid ATP1000 Masters last month, won five games in a row from 4-1 down in the second set to seal the win at one hour and 40 minutes.

After the game, Djokovic said:

"It's nice to be in the semi-finals again and hopefully this year I can at least go further, that's my goal. I think I'm playing really well now. Although they won in straight sets, the match was much more close than the score suggested. I was down 1-4 in the second set, but somehow I didn't drop another game.

I found the best form and balance to play my best tennis when I needed it most, both mentally and emotionally. Hopefully I can continue that until tomorrow. ”

In the second set, Analdi started and broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. He then held serve to take a 4-1 lead.

After falling behind 4-1, Djokovic broke back in the seventh game and won five games in a row to win the match 6-4. In the meantime, in the crucial ninth game after the 4-4 tie, at 40:40, Djokovic used a perfect extension to get a break opportunity, and then hit a variety of shots in a multi-shot tie to win the crucial point and lead 5-4.

Winning this game, Djokovic let out a shout and released the pressure of the game.

In the fifth game of the second set, Djokovic held his right knee in pain after stretching his body to hit the forehand, and there was a wave of exclamations. However, the former world number one, who underwent knee surgery last year, is still nimble and flawless.

In the service game, Djokovic dropped four straight points to end the match.

Djokovic, with his delicate feel in front of the net and precise large-angle landing points, consumes the opponent's fighting spirit a little bit.

When he hits two large-angle precise landing points on the left and right in a row with his forehand and backhand, or when he hits a straight line with his backhand on the sideline, he knows that his hand is in place and can basically lock up the victory.

Overall, Djokovic rarely loses in consecutive games. In Djokovic's career, only three currently hold a 2-0 head-to-head record against Djokovic. One is the former world No. 1 and first-generation Tsar Safin, and the second is Czech player Vesely. Then there's Chile's Tabilo, who beat Novak Djokovic in the third round of last year's Rome Masters and again in the second round of Monte Carlo this year.

Last night, Analdi failed to do so, and the record against Djokovic was changed to 1:1.

Djokovic is now just two wins away from winning his 100th tour title. Djokovic's next opponent is qualifier Cameron Norrie. Norrie defeated No.5 seed Popelin 7-6(6), 6-4. Djokovic and Norrie have a record of 4:0. The two have played on hard, clay and grass.

Here's tonight's schedule: