Novak Djokovic celebrates 38th birthday by reaching Geneva Open quarterfinals

Djokovic earned the only break of the opening set in the third game against the 39th-ranked Arnaldi as he did not face a break point in his five service games.

The Serbian fell 1-4 behind in the second set after losing his serve in the fourth game, but he responded by reeling off the next five games to book his spot in the semifinals.

The win saw Djokovic gain revenge for the shock 3-6, 4-6 defeat he suffered at the hands of Arnaldi in his opening match at the Madrid Open last month. The head-to-head is now split at 1-1 between Djokovic and the 24-year-old Italian.

Djokovic did not hide how satisfied he was with his triumph as he celebrated with a huge roar.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion had furiously smashed his racket while down a break in the second set, leaving no doubts that his competitive fire is still burning fiercely.

After the match, the 38-year-old was presented with a cake on court to celebrate his birthday - as he had been at the same tournament a year ago.

"It's great to be in the semi-finals again, last year I played semifinals," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "Hopefully, this year I can go at least a step further. That's the goal.

"I think I'm playing really, really good tennis. Today [there] was a lot of tension on the court. Straight-set win, but it was much closer than maybe the score indicates.

"Yeah, I was 4-1 down in the second and somehow, I don't know, after that racket breaking (smiling), I didn't lose the game and kind of found my, I guess, optimal state and balance mentally and emotionally to really be able to play the best tennis when it was most needed. So hopefully I can carry that into tomorrow."

Djokovic's win is another boost ahead of the French Open, which begins on Sunday. The former world No. 1 defeated Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-3 in his opening match in Geneva to end a three-match losing streak.

The Serbian will face either Alexei Popyrin or Cameron Norrie in the last four on Friday.

READ MORE: Donald Ramphadi falls short in first round at 2025 Barcelona Open