Novak Djokovic continued the quest for his first title of the season on Friday, overcoming Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-4 to reach his seventh Mutua Madrid Open semi-final.

The world No. 1 hit the ball with relentless depth, precision and power as he controlled the points with his tight groundstrokes to advance after 78 minutes and better his perfect ATP Head2Head series record against Hurkacz at 4-0.

The Serb reached the final in Belgrade last month and is looking to build momentum in the Spanish capital at his fourth event of the year. Earlier this week, Djokovic knocked out Gael Monfils in his opener to secure a record 369th week as Pepperstone’s ATP ranked world No. ‘Andy Murray.

The top seed will face world number 3 Rafael Nadal or Spaniard #NextGenATP Carlos Alcaraz in what will be his 72nd ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. Only Nadal (76) reached the last four in a Masters 1000 of more.

Djokovic is also aiming for his 38th Masters 1000 crown and his fourth title in Madrid, having triumphed in Spain in 2011, 2016 and in his previous appearance in 2019.

In a solid opening set, Djokovic looked at ease on the Manolo Santana Stadium as he dominated the forehand exchanges, with Hurkacz unable to crack the world No.1. The 34-year-old took a 3-0 lead and didn’t face a break point in the set to go ahead after 36 minutes.

Djokovic continued to keep the pressure on in the second set, coming back with great depth to force Hurkacz into mistakes. The top seed got the crucial break in game five, before continuing to play steadily to race to victory, triumphing on her fourth match point.

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According to Tennis Data Innovations, Djokovic converted 84% of the points he was in in attacking position as he passed Hurkacz. The ATP Tour average for conversion rate on clay is 65%.

In attack 26% of the time, the Serb also topped the balance of power in the game, with Hurkacz only attacking 19% of the time. (Learn more about Balance of power and Conversion and steal scores).

Hurkacz was playing in his third Masters 1000 quarter-final of the year, having advanced to the hard-court semis in Miami and the last eight on clay in Monte Carlo. The world No. 14 has only won once on clay in 2021 but is already 6-2 on the surface this season.

Despite the loss, Hurkacz moved up two spots to No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP rankings.