A triumph on the tennis court would have been the ideal way for Novak Djokovic to celebrate his birthday.  With a nice taste of revenge over Matteo Arnaldi, the 38-year-old Serbian legend guaranteed his place in the ATP 250 tournament semifinals in Geneva.  His 6-4, 6-4 victory in straight sets was the ideal retaliation for his earlier Madrid Masters defeat at the hands of the Italian.  As if the victory wasn’t enough, the tournament organizers brought out a birthday cake for Djokovic, who happily ate it in front of the spectators on the court itself.

Djokovic is vying for the elusive 100th ATP championship, adding 99 to his already outstanding collection.  With a strong showing in the Geneva semifinals, he is also poised to make it to the 143rd final of his remarkable career.  The winner of the match between Britain’s Cameron Norrie, a former top 10 player who is currently rated 90th in the rankings, and Australia’s power hitter Alexei Popyrin, who is currently ranked 25th, will face Djokovic in the semifinals.

After being invited to compete in Geneva, Djokovic appears to be following the same pattern as the previous year, reaching the semifinals once more.  The clay season had a bit of a rough beginning, with early withdrawals in Madrid and Monte Carlo.  His journey to the Miami Masters final has been his high point so far this year.  With this most recent victory, Djokovic is obviously getting used to the clay courts.

 In the first set, Djokovic showed off his serving prowess, avoiding break point danger and taking an early break to take a 3-1 lead that he never gave up.  Arnaldi recorded slightly less unforced errors, 14 to Djokovic’s 15, even though he had 10 winners to Djokovic’s 9.

Arnaldi momentarily changed the course of events in the second set by breaking Djokovic’s serve and rushing to a 4-1 lead.  When Djokovic, who was clearly irritated, was warned for a racket toss, the tension increased.  He treated his knee in a heart-stopping moment, but he continued without the need for medical assistance.

 Reenergized, Djokovic settled back into his rhythm, pressing from the baseline and taking advantage of Arnaldi’s growing errors.  The Serbian maestro took control of the set after winning five straight games.  Arnaldi finished with 21 victories to Djokovic’s 16, but it cost him since he made 25 unforced mistakes compared to Djokovic’s 23.