By Mike McIntyre

For a guy who supposedly had a nasty combination of the bird flu and SARS, Novak Djokovic pulled through nicely last night with a 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory over American Andy Roddick.

Of course Djokovic didn't really have any of those ailments, but a little good natured ribbing from Roddick sent the press into a frenzy and caused a little drama between the two of them before and after they went on court.

You see Roddick can be a bit of a character at times, and God love him for that. While most players are talking about taking life one day at a time (or something along those lines) we can always count on Andy for a refreshing and honest press conference. He tells it like he sees it and is more than willing to ham it up to make things interesting for all of us tennis fans.

While I would imagine that most mainstream tennis journalists and fans alike will realize when he is being facetious, there apparently are those who chose to take him more literally. It makes for a better story I suppose. In this instance it may have also served to fire up the ailing Serb and given him a little extra motivation as he took to the court and sent the last American man in the draw packing.

Djokovic certainly started strong by taking the first two sets with ease. He was able to break Roddick's seemingly impenetrable serve four out of his first eight service games. Roddick bounced back by taking the third set and it seemed that momentum was swinging in his favor as he went to serve for the fourth set at 5-4. It looked like he might just be able to pull out one of those Jimmy Connors or Andre Agassi come from behind, five set classics that we all have come to enjoy every now and then at the Open. It could have been his defining US Open moment and helped salvage an otherwise tumultuous year.

Instead Roddick would throw in two double faults in that game and allow Djokovic to break back. The fourth set went to a tie break that went back and forth with mini breaks on both sides. Ultimately Djokovic would prevail after serving at six points to five in the breaker when Roddick sent his return of serve long.

What ensued afterwards between Michael Barkan of the USA Network and Djokovic was one of the most awkward moments I have seen in a post match interview. For whatever reason Djokovic thought it would be a good idea to bring up Andy's comments about his supposed sixteen injuries. Probably not a good idea to stir the pot with the home crowd after you've just beaten their golden boy. The boos rained down on Djokovic harder than a 140mph Roddick serve.

Speaking about his reaction on court with Barkan, Djokovic had this to say in his post match press conference.

"Okay. I did react on the court. Maybe I reacted. Maybe I exaggerated and reacted bad in that moment. No, I apologize if I reacted like that. But this was just impulsive, you know."

Part of me felt sorry for him, but overwhelmingly I think he brought this on himself. If Djokovic had simply focused on the match I think he would have ended up unscathed from the crowd. If you can dish it out like Djokovic did a year ago with his wonderful impersonations, you've got to be able to take it when it comes back in your court. By trying to play the victim it seems instead that Djokovic has now been labeled as the villain. We'll see if that is the case when he steps on court Saturday against Roger Federer, who likely would have been the crowd favorite regardless of this whole ordeal.

Labels aside, Djokovic enters the semi's with a 2-6 head to head against Federer. Despite this losing record, he does hold the important win over Federer at the Aussie Open earlier this year en route to his first Grand Slam title. That result will certainly provide him with the confidence he requires as he attempts to end Roger's streak of 33 wins in a row at the Open. A confidence that clearly will not be boosted by those in attendance on Saturday.