Richard overcame Mardy Fish 5-7 6-1 6-2 to reach his first masters semis this year. Then he also disposed John Isner 7-6 6-3 to challenge the winner of Djokovic/Tipsarevic for his first ever Masters title.
In the frist set against Isner, Richard hit 88 % of first serves and equalled the American on aces: 4 each. Slightly better throughout the set, he played a convincing tiebreak which he concluded with a smash. In the second set, he could use a breakpoint in the 6th game and never looked back. Isner did not reach a single breakpoint throughout the match.
With the final points Richard does not have to defend a single point from last year anymore, which will allow him to move upwards in the ranking.
