The weather is not expected to play much of a factor tonight, but the smog has taken its toll on some players as they looked out of breath and fatigued due to the poor air quality.
The winner of this match will face the winner of the first semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini. Follow here for live commentary of this semifinal.
When you compare these two players, mostly everything edges Djokovic's way. Serve, forehand, backhand, speed all goes the Serb's way. Volleying would be the only thing that might go Ferrer's way, but that's a toss-up. There's no denying the heart that Ferrer has but at the age of 33, his grind it out playstyle has clearly taken its toll on him. Djokovic has figured his playstyle. While he's not the speediest in terms of ending points like Roger Federer or John Isner, he knows when to go for the killer blow. That's what makes him superior to Ferrer.
This current meeting between these two will be their 21st career meeting. Djokovic leads the head-to-head by a staggering 15-5. He's won nine consecutive matches against the current Spanish number one. The win streak began back in 2012 when they met at the Australian Open. It was one-way traffic for the Serb as he took that in straight and has dominated this head-to-head ever since. The closest Ferrer has been to pipping Djokovic was in Rome last year when they went the distance. Other than that, it was no problem whatsoever for the world number one. The last time Ferrer won a matchup between himself and Djokovic was back in 2011 during the ATP World Tour Finals in London where the Spaniard dominated Djokovic 6-3, 6-1.
World number seven David Ferrer looks to continue his hot Asian swing by getting to a consecutive final. He took the title in Kuala Lumpur and is continuing his journey to London with another strong showing. His opening round match was againast Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. Bellucci hung in there for most of the match, but all it took was one break each set for Ferrer to take it 6-4, 6-3. Next up was big-serving Czech Lukas Rosol. Rosol pushed Ferrer to a breaker in the opening set of that one but could not capitalize on his chances as the Spaniard moved on. In the quarterfinals, he met Yen-Hsun Lu. The world number seven overpowered Taipei's number one, taking him out 6-3, 6-1.
This year is no different. The Serb has been absolutely dominant en route to the semifinals without dropping a set. He opened up his campaign for a fourth consecutive title in the Chinese capital against qualifier Simone Bolelli. It was easy picking for Djokovic as he took out the Italian with no problem. In his next match, he came up against Chinese wildcard Ze Zhang. Zhang put forth his best effort, but once again, it was too easy for the Serbian. In his quarterfinal match, he met American John Isner. It was a battle of probably the world's best server against the world's best returner. And how it has been in over their past battles, it was Djokovic taking the victory. This victory though, was a convincing one as he won two and two in 52 minutes.
The Asian swing has really brought out the best in the Serb. He has never lost a single match in Beijing and has made at least the semifinals in three consecutive years in Shanghai. In 2012 and 2013, he lifted those titles and in 2012, that was when he came from a set down and saved match points against Big Four rival Andy Murray. The following year, he took out the big Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.
With how well Djokovic plays all-year long, it's pretty difficult to pick out when he plays his best tennis. However, it seems like the last few years, his best tennis has come in Asia and the indoor hard courts of Europe. The world number one has lifted the title in Beijing the last three years and in five of the last six. The one year he didn't play, Tomas Berdych took the title. The Serb missed 2011 due to injury.
Hello everyone and welcome to live coverage of the 2015 China Open semifinal. I'm Noel Alberto, and I will be bringing you live commentary and updates here on VAVEL. The second semifinal will be contested between Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer. The match is set to start at 7:30 AM EDT at the National Tennis Stadium in Beijing. Stay tuned for a preview to the match.