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Djokovic rallies to down Mayer

DUBAI - Novak Djokovic fought back from a sluggish opening in Thursday’s last-eight encounter to set up a semi-final against Tomas Berdych at the Aviation Club on Friday.

The two-time defending champion here began poorly against Florian Mayer, of Germany, and appeared destined to produce another unconvincing showing following on from the previous night’s three-setter with Feliciano Lopez when trailing 5-3.

However, the Serb bounced back emphatically, rattling off 10 of the next 11 games – including four service breaks – to surge clear with increasing ease to a 7-5, 6-1 triumph. “It was a very slow start amid quite different conditions from Wednesday night’s match,” the 2011 Australian Open winner admitted.

“The ball was going faster today and he took it to me from the start; in the first game, he was at the net already two or three times. I wasn’t moving my legs well and made lots of unforced errors.

“I’d never played (Florian) Mayer before, but I knew that he’s a very unusual player, who has a very unusual technique, so I needed to be ready to expect anything. “He has a very unorthodox game. I really could not predict the shots he was playing that well for the first eight or nine games. It was my fault as well because I wasn’t moving well.

“So, I was just standing and waiting for him to make a mistake. He was playing aggressive and coming to the net.

“As soon as I started focusing a little bit more on my returns and baseline play and just kept the ball in the court – working my points out and building up the point – then it was all better.

“But, when I needed to play well and keep the ball in the court, I did. The match turned around from the break at 5-4.”

At that point, Mayer’s game – and serve – faltered and fell away drastically, allowing Djokovic to intervene clinically as any previous confidence and momentum briskly sapped out of his opponent’s game.

“He helped me a little bit with his double faults,” the 23-year-old explained. “He made one double fault at 5-4 and two again at 6-5.

“He wasn’t serving well, so that’s where I felt I should step in. Tennis is a mental game and a lot of things depend upon momentum.

“So, if you’re able to use the momentum and make your opponent feel that you’re on top of him and feeling good, you have the advantage.”

That ruthless streak saw Djokovic race away with proceedings in a predominantly one-sided second set to pencil in a final-four clash with Berdych, when picking the right moment could well be pivotal. “It’s a tough one,” ‘Nole’ conceded. “He’s been playing really well in the last year and a half and he’s quite a consistent player right now.

“We played in Australia, although there are different conditions here. He has a powerful serve, with very fast – and flat – baseline strokes, so I guess I’ll need to be patient and wait for my chances.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic has downplayed the significance of title rival Roger Federer playing all of his three matches until now in more favourable night conditions, adding: “I don’t know why this happens, but it’s just the scheduling. I’m not the one who is making the schedule.”