Novak Djokovic said he was just “trying to stay alive” as he fought through very tough weather to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
Djokovic beat Belgian player Zizou Bergs 6-3 7-5. At 38 years old, he has now become the oldest player to reach the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 tournament – and this is the 80th time he has done so.
The Serbian star had problems in the last round due to injury and was even sick during his match against Yannick Hanfmann, struggling with the extreme heat.
Temperatures in eastern China have gone up to 35°C with 80% humidity during the day.
When asked how he managed to win, Djokovic said: “Pretty much everything. It’s been very hard for all the players this week. I’m happy I got through it.”
Djokovic, who is trying to win his fifth title in Shanghai, started strong against Bergs and won the first set easily. But Bergs broke Djokovic’s serve when he was close to winning the match.
Still, Bergs made too many mistakes while going for big shots – he hit 23 unforced errors, while Djokovic only made eight.
“I should have finished the match at 5-4, but I played too safe,” said Djokovic. “He hits the ball very hard. Sometimes, I just tried to keep the ball in play and wait for his mistake.”
In the semi-finals, Djokovic will play Valentin Vacherot.
Vacherot, 26, came through the qualifying rounds and got his biggest win yet by beating 10th seed Holger Rune 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. Rune suffered from cramp towards the end of the match.
Thanks to this win, Vacherot will enter the world’s top 100 players for the first time in his career.