Madrid: Maintaining the quest for his first title of the season, World No 1 Novak Djokovic defeated Pole Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-4 to reach his seventh Madrid Open semifinal, here on Friday. Djokovic struck the ball with relentless depth, accuracy and power as he controlled points with his watertight groundstrokes to advance after 78 minutes and improve his perfect ATP Head-to-Head series record against Hurkacz to 4-0.
The Serbian reached the final in Belgrade last month and is looking to build further momentum in the Spanish capital in his fourth event of the year. Earlier this week, Djokovic eliminated Gael Monfils in his opening match to ensure himself of a record-extending 369th week as World No 1 in the ATP Rankings from Monday, before he received a walkover from Andy Murray.
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The top seed will face World No 3 Rafael Nadal or Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in what will be his 72nd ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. Only Nadal (76) has reached the last four at a Masters 1000 event more than him. Djokovic is also chasing his 38th Masters 1000 crown and his fourth title in Madrid, after triumphing in Spain in 2011, 2016 and in his previous appearance in 2019.