Djokovic, Murray enter Qatar Open semis

Doha, Jan 6 (IANS) The worlds top two players, Britains Andy Murray and Serbias Novak Djokovic, have advanced to the semi-finals of the Qatar Open tennis tournament. Murray, the world No. 1, beat Spains Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 while Djokovic, the defending champion in Doha, took out Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3 in tough weather conditions on Thursday, reports Efe news agency. "It was obviously very windy and it was blowing across the court a lot. That makes timing pretty difficult," Murray said. "It was hard for everyone today." The 29-year-old Scotsman, who won the title here in 2008 and 2009, will play third seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the semi-final as he tries to advance to his first championship match of 2017. Berdych beat Frances Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth seed and 2012 Qatar Open champion, 7-5, 6-3. Djokovic, who fell out of the top spot in the rankings in November, sounded pleased with his play after the match. "I thought in terms of my performance, under the circumstances, I put the level up again, which is great. So everything is going in the right direction," the 29-year-old Djokovic said. The Serbian star, who has won 12 Grand Slam titles, will play Spains Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals. Verdasco beat big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic, the sixth seed, 6-2, 7-5. "Hes a very complete player," Djokovic said, referring to Verdasco. "Hes got weapons from the forehand side, big serve (and hes) very strong."