PARIS: Novak Djokovic dropped serve for only the second time in the competition but still cruised into the final of the ATP event in Athens with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Yannick Hanfmann on Friday.

The 38-year-old Serb took 79 minutes to dispatch the German qualifier.

“I think it was the best tennis I’ve played this tournament,” Djokovic added. “It came at the right time. Hanfmann poses a great threat because he serves big, has a big game, so I needed to really stay focused.”

Djokovic — who defeated Nuno Borges 7-6(7/1), 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Thursday — broke his four-match semi-final losing streak. He had fallen in the last four at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open and Shanghai.

His last semi-final victory was at the Geneva clay-court event in May when he went on to beat Hubert Hurkacz in the final for his 100th career singles title. The only men with more are Roger Federer (103 titles) and Jimmy Connors (109).

After missing an early opportunity to break the German qualifier at 2-1 in the first set, Djokovic broke at 3-2 and won the set 6-3.

In the second set, Djokovic dropped serve at 2-1, but immediately responded to level the score at 3-3. Djokovic broke Hanfmann again in the next game and held serve to win before a noisy, supportive crowd at the event which this year took the place of the short-lived Belgrade Open on the ATP schedule.

On Thursday, Lorenzo Musetti posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over Alexandre Muller to reach the semi-finals and maintain his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2025