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Djokovic bounces back to beat Baghdatis

Novak Djokovic dug deep to clinch victory © Getty Images

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Novak Djokovic overcame something of a scare to book his place in the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors, after losing the opening set to Marcos Baghdatis on Friday.

The world No. 1 had to bounce back to avoid a surprise defeat against the unseeded Cypriot, and did so to conclude a 2-6 6-2 6-3 triumph that took an hour and 38 minutes.

The effects of a long, draining season seemed to weigh Djokovic down in the early stages, as Baghdatis started brightly while he struggled to get into a rhythm. Baghdatis broke the Serbian in the first game of the contest to move ahead, and took advantage of some lax movement from his opponent to break once again before claiming the opening frame in just 28 minutes.

Baghdatis did not have to defend a single break point in the first set, but that changed in the second stanza as Djokovic roared back into contention. Djokovic ratcheted up the pressure on his opponent and it eventually told, with Baghdatis throwing a couple of double faults into a poor service game that put Djokovic on the path back to parity.

After another break sent matters into a deciding set, Djokovic was forced to work even harder to grind out victory. Just one break point opportunity was created by either player during the set, but Djokovic was able to take it at the first time of asking and would go on to serve out the match, despite threatening to throw everything away as he dropped to 15-30 when handed the chance to claim victory.

In a game that proved a microcosm of the match, however, Djokovic righted the ship just in time to move into the final four.

He will face Kei Nishikori's in the first semi final, after the Japanese's fine recent run of form continued with a battling 6-4 5-7 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin.

Roger Federer also cruised into the final four, disposing of Andy Roddick 6-3 6-2 after an impressive display.

Roddick attempted to stick with his Swiss opponent but never really got a handle on the match, with a Federer ace eventually closing out the contest after little more than an hour on court.

Federer set up an all-Swiss semi-final with Stanislas Wawrinka, after he beat Florian Mayer 6-2 6-2 in Basel.

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils' hopes of reaching the ATP World Tour Finals suffered a potentially fatal blow with a defeat to Marcel Granollers in the Valencia Open.

The Frenchman is 14th in the race for a place in the top eight and will now have to win the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris next week to stand any chance of getting to London after losing 7-6(12), 3-6, 6-4.

Sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro had no such problems, however, as he roared past Sam Querrey to move into the semi-finals.

Querrey defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to move into the quarter-finals, but a repeat performance never looked like being on the cards once Del Potro claimed the opening set in emphatic fashion. Querrey was more resolute in the second set, but Del Potro nevertheless grabbed a crucial break at the right time to clinch a 6-2 7-5 success - keeping alive his hopes of making the World Tour Finals in London.

In the last quarter-final, Juan Monaco continued his good recent run as he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3.

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