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Even on the most basic level, he is not like the others.

For one thing, Janko Tipsarevic is shorter than most big-time tennis players at five-foot-eleven, and scruffier.

For another, he wears iconoclastic sunglasses on court and also does things like tattoo quotes from literary titans such as Fyodor Dostoevsky into his skin.

Any bets on how many other guys on the ATP tour are reading The God Delusion, a treatise on atheism by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins?

"It's not that great, it's not that bad, I'm trying to power through the part that I don't like. Let's see. Maybe later in the book it's going to be more fun," Tipsarevic said shortly after booking his ticket to the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup on Friday.

In beating ninth-ranked Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in straight sets (6-4, 6-4), the 27-year-old Tipsarevic accomplished two firsts: reaching the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 event, and cracking the top 20 in the world rankings.

"Two of my goals this season, the beginning of the year, was to finish the year top 20 and to win an ATP title. The second thing didn't happen for me yet, even though I was close already two times this year. I'm happy that the first thing is happening," he said.

Tipsarevic is the only unseeded player in the final four of this week's tournament and credited a new found determination to improve and compete for his revival of the past two seasons.

"Before, I was just playing the sport for the love of the game . . . I realized that you cannot become better and you cannot push yourself, you cannot become a champion if you don't set up goals which you want to achieve," he said.

To hear Tipsarevic express himself – deliberately, precisely, intensely – is also to witness a contrast in style and substance with most pro athletes.

Asked whether he has been spurred on by the success of fellow Serbian players like Novak Djokovic, the new world number one, he said "it helps me tremendously" and coined a term: "positive jealousy."

"When you see these guys who are your out-of-the-court friends, life friends, doing what they're doing, you're watching it from a first-row seat, it really makes you think that 'if Novak is No. 1, I can be top 10.' Maybe I will not be top 10, but just having the desire to be top 10 really helps you become a better player at the end of the day," he said.

In the semis, Tipsarevic will meet American Mardy Fish, another player who marches to a slightly different beat.

Fish has won the last three meetings between the men, but Tipsarevic, who played with Djokovic in the doubles draw, isn't short on confidence.

The sixth-seeded Floridian disposed of 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3, 6-7, 6-0, in a roller-coaster match that featured 14 service breaks.

"You know, we couldn't hold serve to save our lives, but we returned really well. There's the positive, I guess" Fish smiled afterward.

An appearance in the Rogers Cup final for Fish would cement his status as the top-seeded American player heading into the U.S. Open, ahead of his compatriot and childhood friend Andy Roddick.

Not that he's about to get big-headed about it.

"[Roddick] went into the U.S. Open as the leading American for 10 straight years. So just because I go in one year, you know what I mean? I've got too much respect for him. I would never say it. Even if I felt it, I would never say it. He's too good a friend," the 29-year-old Fish said.

The second semi-final will feature 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France (who after besting Roger Federer in the third round dispatched eighth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the quarters, 6-4, 6-4).

His opponent will be Djokovic, who defeated Gael Monfils of France 6-2, 6-1 in a crowd-pleasing final match of the evening session.

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