Novak Djokovic cruised past Federico Coria 6-1 6-0 in just 56 minutes to reach the semifinals at the Belgrade Open.
Djokovic has improved his record to 952 match wins moving up to fifth in tour-level wins in the Open Era, breaking a tie with Guillermo Vilas. Only four players won more matches than Djokovic: Jimmy Connors (1274), Roger Federer (1243), Ivan Lendl (1068), Rafael Nadal (1022).
Djokovic dropped eight points on his first serve and lost his serve only once. The Serbian star broke serve six times.
Djokovic held serve at 15 with a service winner in the first game and broke serve in the second game with a forehand crosscourt winner. The 2021 Australian Open champion held serve at 15 and earned his second break in the fourth game to open up a 4-0 lead in just over 20 minutes. Coria earned his first break at love with a forehand winner at the net. Djokovic raced out to a 5-1 lead, as Coria made a backhand error. Djokovic hit a volley winner to close out the first set 6-1.
Djokovic earned a break at the start of the second set with a smash winner and held serve at love with an ace to build up a 6-1 2-0 lead. Djokovic eraned his second break in the third game, as Coria made a backhand error. Djokovic hit a forehand winner to race out to a 4-0 lead. Coria dropped serve in the fifth game after a double fault. Djokovic closed out the second set with a service winner.
Djokovic has improved his win-loss record to 18-3 this season.
“It was a great performance. It was probably one of the best matches, if not the best match, I played this year. I felt fantastic on the court from the first point. You won’t always want to play like this. It’s not always possible”, said Djokovic.
Djokovic set up a semifinal against qualifier Andrej Martin, who came back from on eset down to beat Dusan Lajovic 3-6 6-4 6-4. Alex Molcan upset Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-0 to set up a semifinal match against Federico Delbonis, who advanced after Roberto Carballaes Baena withdrew before the match.
