Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Vasek Pospisil of Canada 7-6 6-3 in the quarterfinal of the Tel Aviv Open on Friday. The match lasted for almost two hours.
The 35-year-old Djokovic will now take on Roman Safiullin of Russia in the semifinal on Saturday. On that note, we will take a look at three keys to the match.
Three keys to Novak Djokovic’s win over Vasek Pospisil at the Tel Aviv Open
#1. Pospisil opted for a high-risk approach that almost paid off in the first set:
From the very beginning, Pospisil went for a high-risk approach by serving big and then going to the net early in order to finish the points. He also hit his groundstrokes with a lot of power and virtually tried to blast Djokovic off the court.
The tactic paid off partially –at least in the first set- as the Canadian was able to take the set to a tie-break. He managed to finish a lot of points fairly quickly and won a whopping 96% of the points on his first serve in the first set. However, he continued to be vulnerable off his second serve, winning only 44% of the points on it.
#2. Djokovic’s defense remained top-notch:
Pospisil made his presence felt with his aggressive approach, but it was never going to be easy to play Djokovic off the court. The Serb, as always, defended superbly and won a few points with some outstanding defensive lobs.
As a result, the Serb stayed the course to win the tie-break and then managed to get an early break in the second set. Pospisil started becoming a bit weary as the match progressed and that made Djokovic’s job easier.
#3. Djokovic kept his nose in front to win the match:
Pospisil managed to get a break back in the second set to reduce the deficit to 2-3. However, the Serb was not be denied as he broke Pospisil again to maintain his lead and then managed to serve out the set to finish the match.
It was Djokovic’s fifth career win over the Canadian and he is yet to lose in this matchup. The Serb is looking good and remains a strong favorite to win his third title of the year.
Main Photo from Getty.
