BEIJING, Oct. 8 -- Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic booked his place in the semi-finals of the China Open on Friday with an easy straight sets win over France's Gilles Simon, 6-3, 6-2.
Djokovic, the world number two, showed nerves of steel at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre, saving all seven break points that the Frenchman had against him in the first set.
In the second set, the 23-year-old Serb - playing his first ATP tournament since losing the US Open final to Rafael Nadal - did not give Simon any openings, going up an early break and never looking back.
In the semis, Djokovic will face either Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko or American wild card John Isner, who earlier this year made history at Wimbledon by winning the longest tennis match ever played.
In the women's draw, Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva blitzed French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy, 6-0, 6-2 in less than an hour to claim her spot in the semis, where she could meet local favourite Li Na of China.
Li was due on court later in the day to take on Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova, who has had a great run in Beijing since shocking Australian fourth seed Samantha Stosur in the first round.
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, who will replace Serena Williams as the world number one when the new rankings are issued on Monday, will face Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in her quarterfinal match.
Both the WTA and ATP are hoping to use the 6.6-million-dollar China Open to make inroads in the vast Asian country, which they see as a strategic marketplace. Published by HT Syndication with permission from EKantipur.com. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
