Beijing:
Novak Djokovic cruised into the final of the China Open on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-3, victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling.
Djokovic broke Soderling in the first game and after double faulting on deuce at 4-3, fired three consecutive aces to hold serve and went on to take the set.
Soderling took a 2-0 lead in the second set before Djokovic broke back to level at 2-2. Djokovic broke Soderling's serve again at 4-3 and then served out the match with an ace.
"I assure you that it was a lot more difficult because he's a big server, a big hitter and he was very aggressive throughout the whole match," said world No. 2 Djokovic. "So I was very patient and I waited for my chances that were given to me and I used them at the right time."
"I tried to get as many returns as possible in the court to make him play an extra shot. And that's what I did extremely well."
Saturday's other men's semifinal features Spanish No. 2 Rafael Nadal against eighth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia. Djokovic has won all three of his encounters with Cilic, but is 5-9 against Nadal.
In the women's competition, Svetlana Kuznetsova plays fellow Russian Nadia Petrova and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland meets Marion Bartoli of France.
Djokovic broke Soderling in the first game and after double faulting on deuce at 4-3, fired three consecutive aces to hold serve and went on to take the set.
Soderling took a 2-0 lead in the second set before Djokovic broke back to level at 2-2. Djokovic broke Soderling's serve again at 4-3 and then served out the match with an ace.
"I assure you that it was a lot more difficult because he's a big server, a big hitter and he was very aggressive throughout the whole match," said world No. 2 Djokovic. "So I was very patient and I waited for my chances that were given to me and I used them at the right time."
"I tried to get as many returns as possible in the court to make him play an extra shot. And that's what I did extremely well."
Saturday's other men's semifinal features Spanish No. 2 Rafael Nadal against eighth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia. Djokovic has won all three of his encounters with Cilic, but is 5-9 against Nadal.
In the women's competition, Svetlana Kuznetsova plays fellow Russian Nadia Petrova and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland meets Marion Bartoli of France.
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