No. 1 Novak Djokovic beats Tomas Berdych to reach Paris Masters semifinals

PARIS (AP) — Novak Djokovic saved set points in both sets to remain on course for his third straight Paris Masters title after beating fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) in a hard-fought quarterfinal on Friday.

Chasing his 10th title of a brilliant season, the top-ranked Serb plays the winner of the last quarterfinal between No. 4 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland and No. 7 Rafael Nadal of Spain.

Second-seeded Briton Andy Murray and No. 8 David Ferrer of Spain won earlier to set up a semifinal showdown.

With both players serving well, there were few opportunities for either player to pull ahead in the first set, although Berdych did miss a set point at 6-5 on Djokovic's serve — his only break point of the set.

"I definitely didn't want to go into the third set. Credit to Berdych for playing on a high level, pushing me in the back of the court with his depth on the shots," Djokovic said. "(The match) could have gone a different way."

In the second-set tiebreaker, Djokovic moved 5-3 up in the tiebreaker only for Berdych to pull back to 6-5. But the Czech player wasted two more set points with over-hit forehands.

At 7-7, another wide forehand gave Djokovic his first match point but the Serb's own forehand sailed long.

Berdych's forehand let him down again on the next point, giving Djokovic a second match point. When his shot was called out, Djokovic challenged and the replay showed the ball had landed just in, meaning that the point was replayed. After a brief exchange, Berdych clipped a two-handed backhand into the net.

"It was a really tough match, a real battle," Djokovic said. "I'm just glad I managed to stay calm in the important moments and pull through."

Earlier, Murray beat 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3 to reach his first semifinal at the indoor tournament.

"The level during the first set was extremely good," Murray said. "After that it was a little bit up and down."

Murray, who has now achieved his best match record in a single season with a 67-11 mark, made the decisive break in the eighth game then served out the match at love.

Ferrer, the 2012 champion, beat 13th-seeded American John Isner 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in a topsy-turvy match after failing to serve out the match at 5-3, 40-15 up in the second set.

Ferrer, who has won five titles this year, seemed to be racing to victory when he broke Isner in the eighth game of the second set. That gave him a chance to serve out the match, but from 40-15 his composure deserted him.

"I was waiting for him to make mistakes and he didn't," Ferrer said.

Isner forced a tiebreaker, and it was an exciting one, with a huge ace from Isner whizzing just over the head of a spectator and giving him a 5-2 lead.

Ferrer fought back, returning Isner's second serve into his feet for 5-5, then saving a set point with a forehand winner for 6-6.

But Isner unleashed a booming backhand down the line for 7-6, then sent down another huge serve which just clipped Ferrer's racket to clinch the set.

Ferrer was given a warning from the chair umpire at the start of the third set when he yelled out in frustration after missing his fourth break point.

But he easily took Isner's next service game, although the American was clearly struggling. At 0-40, he hunched over in pain, and then took a medical timeout at the changeover.

"My stomach was just cramping up, so was I some pain," Isner said.

Ferrer held easily for 3-1 and then broke again when Isner hit a big forehand wide.