Djokovic cruises past Ferrer in Miami

Miami (Florida), March 30 (IANS) World No.1 Novak Djokovic set up a semi-final clash with Juan Monaco after defeating fifth seed David Ferrer in the quarters of the Sony Ericsson Open.

The Serb, a defending champion here, took an hour and 53 minutes to beat Spaniard Ferrer 6-2, 7-6 (1) Thursday.

"He's like a wall on the court. Gets a lot of balls back. He always makes you play an extra shot," Djokovic was quoted as saying by the ATP website. "So that's something that I was expecting. He was more than impressive, especially in his last match against del Potro. I needed to play well and aggressive and step into the court from the first point. That's what I did."

Djokovic had little difficulty in wrapping the first set and controlled the majority of the clash, before Ferrer dug in to eventually force a tie-break. The Serb once again took command of the situation in the tie-break and disposed of his Spanish opponent in straight sets.

"He was better than me. He started really good," Ferrer said. "In the important moments, I think I made too many mistakes. He played more consistent than me."

Meanwhile, Monaco celebrated his 28th birthday by beating American Mardy Fish for his second appearance in the last four of the ATP Masters, having advanced to the semi-finals at the Shanghai Masters in 2010.

The Argentine dropped serve just once and converted five out of the nine beak point opportunities to beat the eight seed 6-1, 6-3 in 83 minutes.

"It was unbelievable," said Monaco. "I think the way to celebrate my birthday, playing like this like I did today, (I) feel proud and very happy to be here on my birthday."