This content was published 9 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.

Three matches played, three close run things. But Novak Djokovic is through to the semi-finals despite a difficult week where he has been taken to a final set in every round.

But in this exciting quarter-final contest on a windy Centre Court, the world number one turned on the style late in the piece to ensure Kei Nishikori’s second set efforts were all in vain.

The end result 63 36 61 ensures Djokoivic adds to wins against Nicolas Almagro and Thomasz Bellucci, insisting he has yet to hit top form.

“All three matches were very close,” he admitted. “They were different opponents with different styles of play. It’s hard to say which one I was closest to lose. All three could have gone either way but I was but in the third sets of all three matches I was finding the right intensity and the right shots to play at the right time and managing to prevail.

“In the end I was just finding a way, and sometimes this is what it takes to win.

“It was very windy and just hard to play, hard to play a good quality tennis, but it’s the same for both players and that’s what’s more challenging I think for you to mentally be strong and overcome those obstacles.

“I have to be honest and say I haven’t been playing as well as I’ve been playing maybe Monte Carlo in this tournament and the level that I want to get on is still not there. But little by little it’s coming together, I am still in the semi-final in this tournament.”

Djokovic will now take on Spaniard David Ferrer who beat Belgian David Goffin 62 46 63.

“The wins against high quality players that I played against in this tournament in three sets can only help my confidence level, so hopefully I’ll be able to play better, more consistent, less unforced errors, less ups and downs in tomorrow’s match,” added the Serbian.

“I have another clay court specialist, one of the best competitors on tour, and somebody that is not going to hand me the win, he’s going to make me work.”