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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;MONACO (AP) - Novak Djokovic dropped serve four times before beating Robin Haase 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals on Friday, saying he had thought about pulling out of the event following his grandfather's death.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Playing the day after his grandfather died, the top-ranked Djokovic looked distracted at times against Haase. He missed a first chance to serve out for the match at 5-1 before breaking the unseeded Dutchman for the seventh time to seal victory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The win kept Djokovic on course for a final against seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal, who overcame a slight blip in the first set before beating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4 for his 40th straight win at Monte Carlo.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was upset 7-5, 6-4 by ninth-seeded Gilles Simon in an all-French match.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Djokovic had considered withdrawing before his third-round match on Thursday, which came only a few hours after he'd received the bad news.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Yeah, I did. But I'm a professional and life goes on,'' he said. \"I know that I cannot change anything now. Obviously, it's what life gives you and takes (from) you. It's a normal circle of life. I was very close to him, so it was a big loss for me.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Anytime is the wrong time to receive that news. Today was a bit better, but still a lot of emotional ups and downs throughout the match. I got to the semifinals, which is big result for me under the circumstances.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Because of his tennis commitments, Djokovic will be unable to make the funeral back home in Serbia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"No, it's not possible. It's a very sensitive thing to talk about really,'' he said. \"Every religion has a different way of proceeding, the funerals, life itself.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Djokovic lost a total of 16 points on his usually rock-solid first serve, and his play was sometimes erratic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"It's tough to be able to play tennis after the way I felt and the way I still feel,'' Djokovic said. \"I remember him as a great man, and I know he's been supporting me and still from the heavens now.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Djokovic next plays sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, who took advantage of a wayward performance from Andy Murray to win 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"He's a threat to anybody on any surface. Big groundstrokes, powerful serve,'' said Djokovic, who is 8-1 overall against Berdych but has never played him on clay. \"He knows what it feels like to play on the big stage. He had a great match against Andy today.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nadal followed Djokovic on to the court, broke Wawrinka immediately and then opened up a 3-1 lead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The six-time French Open champion looked in control at 40-15 in the eighth game, but some uncustomary unforced errors gave Wawrinka a chance and he broke back for 4-4.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wawrinka briefly led at 5-4 when he fought back again from 40-15 down and held with a strong second serve. Nadal won the next three games to win the set. He set up match point with a pass down the line and closed it out with an ace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tennis great Bjorn Borg watched Nadal's victory, then said on television that he considered the Spaniard the greatest player ever on clay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Let's wait (until) I finish my career,'' Nadal said. \"My uncle always told me that when Bjorn goes on court, everybody feels that he's unbeatable. I don't know how to explain but I don't have this feeling.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Swede won six French Opens among his 11 Grand Slam titles. Nadal has won 10 major titles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Murray had no excuses for losing, having not even completed a set in getting past Julien Benneteau while Berdych was taken to three sets by Kei Nishikori.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"He played very, very well today,'' Murray said. \"Every time I lose a match, I get asked, 'What did you do wrong?' Sometimes the guy plays well.''&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/2012/04/20/monte-carlo-masters-friday>