Tomas Berdych has progressed to the semi-finals of the Rome Masters with a three-sets victory over world number one Novak Djokovic.
The Czech did very little wrong in the opening set but Djokovic came out flying and broke in the fourth game with his third break point.
The next few games went with serve but Djokovic turned it on at just the right time at 5-2 up to take the set with another break and more athletic tennis.
Set two started in gruelling fashion. Each man took his opponent to a number of deuces but neither could get that important break point to take the lead in the set.
Both players then served to love before the Serb earned himself a single break point in the sixth, which he took for a 4-2 lead.
Berdych emphatically won his final service game to love and then with Djokovic serving for the match forced the break before levelling the match at 5-5.
Then another break put the players on the verge of an unlikely third set, with Berdych holding comfortably to win the set 7-5.
The Czech number one made a crucial break in the third game, before saving a break point in the next to preserve his lead. Berdych then had three match points on his own serve but committed a string of unforced errors for deuce. However, he finally took advantage of his fourth match point, serving an ace to claim the set 6-4.
Berdych will face either David Ferrer or Rafael Nadal in the last four.
Matt Domm
