Djokovic stops Moya to reach semi-finals

New York, Sep 7: Youth won out over experience when third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia rolled over veteran Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-4 7-6 6-1 to reach the US Open semi-finals for the first time in his career.

In the crucial second set tiebreaker, the 20-year-old Djokovic survived a set-point to win 9-7 and take control of the two-hour, 18-minute quarter-final yesterday.

"I played some good points in the tiebreak," said Djokovic. "I was a bit lucky and obviously that was the turning point in the match." In tomorrow's semi-finals, Djokovic will face number 15 Spaniard David Ferrer, while three-times champion Roger Federer will battle fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Moya admitted the came apart after losing the tiebreaker. He lost three service games in the final set and made nine unforced errors compared to just one by Djokovic.

"I was beat down mentally," said the 31-year-old Moya. "Having the chance to be (one) set all would have been much different I guess.

"Being two sets down, he is not as tight may be as he was. And he played much better. And I played a bit worse." Djokovic was at times brilliant and others mediocre. He had 23 winners and 25 unforced errors in the first two sets.

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"One of the most important things today was to try to be focused all the time and play every point," he said.

"If you are not playing every point with an experienced player like Carlos then he's going use his chances and get control over the match." Djokovic won the first set by breaking Moya in the 10th and final game of the error-prone opening frame. Moya broke first to grab a 2-1 lead but Djokovic broke right back to put the set on-serve until the final game.

There were no service breaks in the second set, setting up the tiebreaker. Both players saved set points before the Serb claimed the tiebreaker and essentially won the match.

Moya had nothing but praise for Djokovic, who was just 11 when the Spaniard won the French Open in 1998.

"He does everything," said Moya. "He has very a good serve, great return. He can attack the ball. He defends very well. I would say the best is when he has to raise his game, he does.

"When he's in a difficult situation is when he's playing his best. That only happens when you're a big champion, and I think he's going to be." Djokovic joined Roger Federer as the only man to reach the semi-finals in three grand slams or more this year.

"He can still improve, but he has a lot of potential to be number one in the world," said Moya.

Reuters>