Novak Djokovic saved five match points against world No.42 Fernando Verdasco on Friday to reach the Qatar Open final where he could meet world No.1 Andy Murray.
Djokovic won a thrilling match 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 to progress to his second successive final in Doha but was earlier on the brink of a straight sets defeat as he trailed in the second set tie-break.
But through a combination of typical Djokovic grit and Verdasco errors he saved four match points at 6-2 down in the tiebreak and another when 7-6 behind.
“It’s definitely one of the most exciting matches I have played,” Djokovic said after coming back from five match points down for just the third time in his career.
“I haven’t saved five match points many times. He (Verdasco) should have finished it off.”
Djokovic’s progress to the semifinals had been serene and Friday’s match was the first time the Serb had even dropped a set in Doha in almost two years.
Despite losing his opening service game, the world No.2 broke back in the eighth game.
But he was then immediately broken back by Verdasco, who not only served out for the set but then broke Djokovic’s opening service game in the second.
Only after closing the tense second set tie-breaker, did Djokovic’s victory seem likely.
His win keeps alive hopes of final clash between the top two players in the world.
Djokovic will play either Murray or the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych in the final. Their semifinal is later on Friday.
Konjuh in final
Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh outlasted Julia Goerges in a two-hour battle Friday to set up a final against diminutive American Lauren Davis in the WTA Auckland Classic.
Konjuh, 19, a former Australian and US Open junior champion, surprised herself with the way she rallied to beat 28-year-old Goerges, last year’s runner-up, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
“When I came here I wasn’t playing that well, and my serve wasn’t that good tonight,” Konjuh said, after downing Goerges despite serving eight double faults and having only a 49 percent first-serve success rate.
In the other semifinal, the 1.57 meter (5ft 2in) Davis was leading Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-4, 4-1 when the Latvian, who was suffering from a viral illness, pulled out.
The seventh seed had started strongly, breaking Davis twice to go 5-1 up before taking the set 6-4.
But as she began to wilt she dropped the second set 4-6 and looked drained as play progressed in the third.
“She was playing good, but I had good chances in the second set to win the match, but then I didn’t and unfortunately I couldn’t finish the tournament,” Ostapenko said.
“During the match my throat was very painful. My concentration wasn’t good. I wanted to play, but just couldn’t, because I’m sick.”
Davis has advanced a step further than her previous best in Auckland, when she lost to fellow American Venus Williams in the 2015 semifinals.
For Konjuh it is only the second time she has made a WTA final after winning in Nottingham last year as an 18-year-old.
Despite an erratic serve, the tenacious Konjuh had too much variation in her ground strokes for Goerges who was unable to repeat the consistency with her serve and forehand which she showed when beating Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals.
Konjuh and Davis have met once before, in Auckland in 2014, with Davis prevailing in three sets.

Source :Arab News