Djokovic cruises to the semi-finals in Belgrade

Novak Djokovic dropped just one game in his quarterfinal match on Thursday at the Belgrade Open, defeating world number 96 Federico Coria 6-1, 6-0.

This was the first meeting between the two in their careers, as Djokovic now leads the head-to-head 1-0. Djokovic was all over Coria’s second serve in the match, winning 77% of second serve return points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Coria on the other hand struggled to win even a few points on Djokovic’s second serve, winning only 15% of points on the second serve return. Coria did manage to get a look at a break point in that first set though, and actually broke Djokovic’s serve, but Djokovic broke Coria six times to run away with the match in just 55 minutes.

Djokovic finished the match with three aces to go along with just one double fault, while Coria double faulted three times and did not have a single ace. Coria only managed to win 43% of the points when he made his first serve, as Djokovic was extremely comfortable returning both the first and second serve. Djokovic was able to win 68% of the points on his first serve, which was actually 17% lower than his second serve. In the end, it did not matter, as Djokovic won 71% of the points in the lopsided match.

Djokovic now advances to the semi-finals at the Belgrade Open, where he will play the winner of the Andrej Martin and Dusan Lajovic match. No matter who he plays, Djokovic will be the massive favorite to advance to the final. With Gael Monfils falling in the round of 16 on Wednesday, the rest of the draw is wide open for Djokovic to win his 83rd career ATP title, giving himself a boost of confidence heading into the French Open, which is set to begin on Sunday.