Geneva, May 23 (IANS) Novak Djokovic celebrated his 38th birthday with hard-fought revenge at the Geneva Open. The second seed held firm for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Matteo Arnaldi to reach the semi-finals at the clay ATP 250 event for the second consecutive year.

Djokovic, who fell to Arnaldi at the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid last month, reeled off five straight games from 1-4 in the second set to seal a one-hour, 40-minute victory.

“It’s great to be in the semi-finals again. Hopefully this year I can go at least a step further, that’s the goal. I think I’m playing really good tennis. A straight-sets win, but it was much closer than the score indicates. I was 4-1 down in the second, but somehow I didn’t lose a game.

“I found the optimal state and balance, mentally and emotionally, to be able to play my best tennis when it was most needed. Hopefully I can carry that into tomorrow,” said Djokovic.

Djokovic is now within two victories of claiming his 100th tour-level trophy, with which he would join Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as the only men to hit the triple-digit mark in the Open Era.

The Serb will next play qualifier Cameron Norrie. The Briton defeated fifth seed Alexei Popyrin 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach his ninth tour-level semi-final on clay and first since Rio de Janeiro last year.

In the other half of the draw, Hubert Hurkacz continued his strong run of form by dismissing top seed Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-6(5) in a high-quality serving battle.

Hurkacz, who reached the quarter-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome last week, triumphed at the last clay-court ATP 250 he played in Estoril last year. He trailed 1/3 in the second-set tie-break against Fritz, but responded with an ace down the middle at 5/5 before converting his only match point.

Hurkacz will next face qualifier Sebastian Ofner, who rallied past fourth seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Ofner will aim to advance to his second final after reaching the championship match at the grass-court ATP 250 in Mallorca last year.

–IANS

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