Top seed/defending champion Novak Djokovic extended his streak to 20 consecutive wins on Friday, earning a spot in the BNP Paribas Masters semi-finals via a dramatic 7-6(3), 7-6(8) victory over No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych. The Serb now holds a 20-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over his Czech challenger.

It marked the first of Djokovic’s 680 career wins (ATP,  Grand Slams and Davis Cup) in which he didn’t break serve. He is looking to become the first player to win six ATP Masters 1000 titles in a season.

Djokovic, who earlier clinched the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the fourth time in the past five years, now awaits the winner of the Stan Wawrinka vs. Rafael Nadal quarter-final.

Berdych, who was into his 15^th quarter-final of the year, had a set point with his opponent serving at 5-6. But Djokovic fought off the break and went on to take the opening set in a tie-break, his 27^th straight set won.

With his coach, Boris Becker, like Djokovic a three-time BNP Paribas Masters titlist, looking on, the Serb would save a pair of set points in the second-set tie-break and go on to pull out the victory in two hours and seven minutes. There were no service breaks in the match. Djokovic would finish with 19 winners and 22 unforced errors, winning 80 per cent of his first-serve points. Berdych amassed 38 unforced errors in the loss.

“I definitely didn’t want to go into the third,” said Djokovic. “But credit to Berdych for playing on a high level, pushing me in the back of the court with the depth of his shots, especially from the forehand side. I thought he did very well. It was decided in tiebreaks two times, and very few points, really, decided a winner today. Could have gone a different way. He had set point in the first set, as well. In the important moments, I just managed to hang in there, just stay tough. That’s what I’m most proud of.” 

A Look At Novak Djokovic’s 20-Match Win Streaks

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