Serbian tennis world No 1 Novak Djokovic unleashes a backhand during his quarterfinal victory over Gael Monfils of France at the Western & Southern Open in Ohio yesterday.

Novak Djokovic survived a scare before easing through to the semis. World No. 1 Djokovic outlasted Frenchman Gael Monfils to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a two and a half hour evening match."It was a very physical match, but I hung in there and it was a good win," Djokovic said. "It was an intense match, a lot of tension."

Djokovic improved his season record to a superb 56-1, clinching the match after Monfils hammered a forehand into the net.But second seeded Spaniard Nadal and Swiss maestro Federer suffered surprising exits on the Cincinnati hardcourts in the final event before the start of the US Open in 10 days.World number two Nadal was defeated by American seventh seed Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4.And Federer then crashed out to eighth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).