Djokovic into Paris Masters semis

Novak Djokovic swept into the semi-finals of the Paris Masters on Friday with a rapid-fire 6-1, 6-4 win over Stanislas Wawrinka. In the first of the quarter-finals, the Serbian second seed got off to the perfect start with a break in the second game to lead 3-0 and he wrapped up the first set at 6-1 after just 26 minutes with Wawrinka struggling to find his range down both flanks.
The Swiss seventh seed did have his chances early in the second set, but failed to put away any of the four break points he had in the second game. Two games later he had another chance to break but once again came up short and he immediately paid the price as Djokovic pounced on the Swiss player's errors to take a 4-3 lead. The Serb served out for the win, Wawrinka ceding match point with a backhand drive that sailed marginally wide.
The one-sided affair was in stark contrast to the two epic five-setters the two men played earlier this year in the last 16 of the Australian Open and semi-finals of the US Open. Djokovic, who also won on both of those occasions, will next play the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro for a place in Sunday's final.
For Wawrinka, the consolation was that he had already clinched a place in next week's ATP World Tour Finals in London, his first appearance in the season-ending finale. The Paris quarter-finals flung up a star-studded line-up featuring the eight men who will contest for the ATP Tour title in London.
It was the first time since Montreal in 2009 that eight of the top 10 players in the world had reached the quarter-finals of one of the Masters Series tournaments. Federer, who has yet to win a Masters Series title this year, was going up against Del Petro, to whom he lost on home turf in Basel last Sunday in a final that went to three sets.
In the evening quarter-finals, top seed and world number one Rafael Nadal was pitted against French number one Richard Gasquet, who reached the ATP Tour finals for only the second time on Thursday evening when remaining rival for the final spot, Milos Raonic, lost to Tomas Berdych. The Czech, who will lead his country in the Davis Cup final against Serbia in Belgrade later this month, plays in the final match of the day taking on title-holder David Ferrer of Spain.