Birthday boy Monaco, Djokovic through to Key Biscayne semis

Key Biscayne: Argentinian Juan Monaco celebrated his 28th birthday by booking a spot in the Sony Ericsson Open semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over American Mardy Fish on Thursday. Monaco, who beat American Andy Roddick in the previous round, will meet world number one Novak Djokovic who beat Spain’s David Ferrer in straight sets. Djokovic beat Ferrer 6-2, 7-6 (7-1). Monaco’s serve proved too much for eighth seed Fish, who did not begin to cause problems for his opponent until breaking to go 3-3 in the second set. [caption id=“attachment_260536” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AP”]  [/caption] But Monaco, who turned 28 on Thursday, closed out the match within one hour and 22 minutes and was clearly delighted to have given himself a chance of reaching what would be the biggest final of his career. “I meant every shot that I played, I did. It was a perfect match for me,” said Monaco, who has won four ATP Tour events. Reuters