Djokovic To Battle Trio Of Spaniards For Title; Faces Verdasco In Semi-Finals

© Getty ImagesThree Spaniards have joined Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

Top seed Novak Djokovic is one win away from reaching the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final for the second successive year, after defeating a resurgent David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-3 in 80 minutes on Friday afternoon. The Serbian described it “as one of the best matches I’ve played in 2010”.

Djokovic joins three Spaniards in the semi-finals, which represents the 11th time since 1990 that at least three players from the same country have reached the semi-finals at an ATP World Tour tournament. The last time it happened was in 2003 at Hamburg, when four Argentines reached the last four. “If I'm representing the rest of the world, [it] must be a big responsibility,” said Djokovic smiling.

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To combat the Spaniards, starting with Fernando Verdasco on Saturday, Djokovic believes he will “need to play my game.  I've played against Verdasco, [Rafael] Nadal a lot of times on different surfaces.

“So I know what game to play against them. I need to stay closer to the lines, I guess, and be aggressive, but still not too much, because then I can make a lot of unforced errors. I shouldn't force it too much.”

Djokovic won the first 11 points of his match against Nalbandian to race into a 3-0 lead, before the former World No. 3 showed flashes of brilliance that helped him to wins No. 7 seed Mikhail Youzhny and No. 12 seed Tommy Robredo in previous rounds.

But Djokovic was too confident, moving around the court a player who has struggled to overcome a right hip injury. “He's a very talented player who has been for so many years on the tour,” said Djokovic, who completed his third win in four meetings with an exquisite drop shot. It was Nalbandian’s first loss on clay courts this year (5-1).

“He has one of the cleanest, nicest tennis shots on the tour at this moment. So if the ball gets to him, if he's on time [and] balanced, then he can beat anyone.” Nalbandian, currently No. 151 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, dropped to a 9-3 match record on the year.

Djokovic has a 5-2 record (2-1 on clay) over sixth seed Verdasco and has won their past five meetings. Their last clash came in October 2009 at the China Open in Beijing.

Verdasco improved to 4-0 lifetime over compatriot Albert Montanes in a 6-3, 6-7(4) 6-0 victory over two hours and seven minutes on Court Central, as the sun set on the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

Verdasco squandered three match points at 5-1 in the second set, before recording his 17th win of the year after a 17-minute third set. He captured his fourth ATP World Tour title at the SAP Open in San Jose (d. Roddick) in February.