Watch: Novak Djokovic & Carlos Gomez-Herrera display incredible hand skills during Mallorca QF win
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and partner Carlos Gomez-Herrera featured in an incredible rally against top seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers during their 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 quarterfinal win at the Mallorca Open on Wednesday.
In the ninth game of the second set, the four players were involved a long and thrilling point that was eventually won by Djokovic and Gomez-Herrera.
Watch the brilliant exchange here:
The Serb and Spaniard fought back from a set down to win the match in the tiebreaker, thereby reaching the semifinals of the ATP 250 event.
An impressive run for Novak Djokovic and Carlos Gomez-Herrera in Mallorca
While Novak Djokovic is among the greatest singles players of all time, he has just one ATP doubles title to his name. Having made the semifinals in Mallorca, he is one win away from reaching his third ATP doubles final.
In their first-round encounter against Nikola Cacic and Tomislav Brkic, Djokovic and Gomez-Herrera saved match points before prevailing 13-11 in a match tiebreaker. The Serb looked in fine touch from the baseline and also at the net, playing a few crisp volleys that earned him plenty of applause from the crowd.
Djokovic and Gomez-Herrera were faced with a one-set deficit in the second round as well. However, they ended up upsetting the top seeds Zeballos and Granollers with a fine display.
"We are having a lot of fun," said Djokovic in the on-court interview after the game. "This was a huge win for us, beating one of the best doubles players in the world after losing the first set. I thought we played well even though we lost the first set."
"Doubles on grass? Anything can happen really quickly," he added. "One or two shots can decide the winner, as was the case today. But Xarly played really well when it mattered most. This was his win for sure."
While Djokovic has played in countless big matches over the course of his career, Gomez-Herrera is set to appear in his first semifinal on Thursday. The pair will take on third seeds Oliver Marach and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.
Gomez-Herrera credited the World No. 1 for their run to the last four.
"He reached [the semi-finals] himself alone, because I didn’t put a ball [in the court] for two sets," the Spaniard said with a smile. "Luckily, thanks again for Novak being there, because for me it’s like a dream. I'm awake, but I’m dreaming. He’s by the court with me, and that means a lot to me."