BEIJING — Serbia’s Novak Djokovic cruised into the semifinals of the China Open with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco on Friday.

His serve broken three times in the second set, Djokovic came out fighting in the third, and the No. 4-ranked Serb strolled to victory over a weakened Verdasco, who had 19 unforced errorserrors for the match.
“I had ups and downs in today’s match,” Djokovic said. “Verdasco used his chances in the second set when he broke.
“I saved energy at the end of the second set for the refreshing start of the third and I was fortunate to do so.”
Djokovic’s semifinal opponent will be Sweden’s Robin Soderling, who beat Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Also making it to the semis was Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who downed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 6-4, 6-4.