A stretch too far

But Djokovic fought back,twice breaking Monfils,who had to receive treatment on a stomach muscle. Djokovic got the crucial break in the seventh game of the third set and closed out the match to set up a semi-final clash with another Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Juan Martin del Potro kept his errors to a minimum as the Argentine breezed past Spains Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-3 to march into the semis.

Del Potro,seeded sixth,had also defeated Almagro in last weeks Japan Open semi-finals and now needs one more victory to seal his spot for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London next month.

The Argentine,who was suffering from fever during the earlier stages of the hard-court tournament,committed just eight unforced errors during his win and faced a single break point,which he went on to save.

I played very well today,very solid, del Potro told reporters. I played aggressive. I hit my forehand very well. I like the way I played today. I just want to keep improving and keep going far in this tournament.

Tsonga also took a positive step towards confirming his spot for London with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win against German Florian Mayer.

World number three Andy Murrays withdrawal from the Tour Finals due to injury has meant anyone finishing ninth or better in the race to London will qualify for the prestigious season-ending tournament.

Spains Nadal,who last week lost to Djokovic in the China Open final,faces Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the final last-eight clash on Friday.

Stosur in Japan semis

Former champion Samantha Stosur moved into the Japan Open semifinals with a 6-1,3-6,6-3 win against Misaki Doi of Japan on Friday. Third-seeded Stosur,who won the title in 2009,raced away to 5-0 in the opening set but it was far from simple after that as Doi battled back to stir the home crowd and take the second. The pair exchanged breaks of service in the third set before Stosur,the highest remaining seed,held out to win. Awaiting Stosur in the last four on Saturday is American teenager Madison Keys,who reached her first WTA semifinals with a 6-3,6-1 win against Zheng Jie of China. In the other semi,Canadas Eugenie Bouchard faces the last Japanese,Kurumi Nara. Bouchard beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 2-6,6-4,6-1 in their last-eight tie while Nara defeated Polona Hercog of Slovenia 7-6 4,2-6,6-1.

Divij-Raja in Tashkent final

Second seeded Indian pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja scored a close 5-7 6-3 13-11 win over the Israeli pair of Dudi Sela and Amir Weintraub to storm into the finals of the ATP Tashkent Challenger. Raja and Sharan took one hour 23 minutes to register the win on their fourth match point at the Olympic tennis School Tennis Complex.

The Indian pair led 6-2 in the Super Tiebreak before the Israelis clawed their way back. Despite serving two double faults and missing three match points,Raja and Sharan played some fine tennis in the end to wrap up the match.

In the first set,the Indian pair was broken in the 12th game but came back solidly in the second set to break Weintraubs serve in the seventh game and Selas serve in the ninth game to win the second set.

The Indian pair will take on the Russian pair of Mikhail Elgin and Teymuraz Gabashvili in the doubles finals on Saturday evening.