Novak Djokovic survived a big scare against tournament surprise package Thomaz Bellucci before beating the unseeded Brazilian 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open to set up an encounter with Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final.
The victory continued Djokovic's remarkable unbeaten start to 2011, with his record now standing at 31 wins out of 31, and victory here would see him claim his sixth successive title this year.
Bellucci, who had knocked out fourth seed Andy Murray in the third round, was well on course for a stunning upset as he led by one set and 3-1 in the second.
Djokovic refused to give in though, and he battled back to claim the second set with breaks in the sixth and 10th games, before storming to victory in the final set.
The Serbian said: ‘I always believed throughout the whole match I could turn it around and I was right. But he was the better player for a set and a half definitely, he was more aggressive.
‘I felt quite slow on the court at the start of the match and it took me a while to get into my rhythm but when I did, when I made that crucial break, it was much better.’
