Day Twelve featured the second semi final of the men’s singles - a rematch of the 2018 Wimbledon quarter final, where Novak Djokovic (6) defeated Kei Nishikori (21) for the thirteenth successive time - the last time Nishikori had tasted success against Djokovic was on this very same court in the semi finals of the 2014 US Open.
Both players missed last years tournament through injury, so have made up for it in a big way.
Today, Djokovic started on fire, breaking in the second game, and consolidating immediately for a 3-0 advantage.
He was unsettling Nishikori with a punishing regime of returning serve, which continuity turned Keri’s attack into neutral or worse - extreme defence. The backhand especially was working well for Djokovic early.
Nishikori held for 1-3, and again for 2-4, but in the sixth game he let two game points slide before he came back from deuce.
A love game from Serbia forced Nishikori to hold and stay in the set.
At 0-30, Nishikori was saved by an ace and a poor Djokovic approach which allowed the 21st seed to force an error. Novak stuffed up a simple overhead which would have given him break point.
Nishikori was still taken to deuce - then won the game
Djokovic served the set out 6-3, an ace sealing a love game.
Novak had Kei in immediate trouble in game one of set two at 0-30. A forehand winner down the line plus a brilliant backhand taking Djokovic by surprise, steadied the ship for Nishikori, but a Djokovic backhand screamer rocked it again and a break point arrived. Saved with a winner. A second, third and fourth were also saved and Kei led 1-0.
A double fault left Djokovic at 30-30, and he was taken to deuce - another double fault and the first break opportunity for Nishikori.
Saved with a backhand finding the net. An overhead winner from Japan and second break point. Saved with a forehand finding the net.
Serve held for 1-1.
At 2-2, Nishikori faced three break points, following all out attack from Djokovic, the highlight a scintillating return in reply to an excellent serve as wide as possible to the Serb forehand.
One was saved when Kei made ground quickly to a good drop shot. The second saved with a clean winner. The third saved with a great forehand volley. The fourth break chance came with a shank Nishikori forehand from behind the baseline.
Djokovic finally converted after another Nishikori forehand failure. That was the only break for set two, and enough for Novak to take a commanding hold on the match.
The lead was 6-3 6-4.
Serves were held for two games in the decider, then Djokovic put the foot down.
He broke twice, won eight of nine points on his second serve, won 48% of points on the Nishikori serve, and was the beneficiary of 22 unforced Japanese errors.
Facing no break points on his own serve, Djokovic cruised to a straight sets win 6-3 6-4 6-2, the final point fittingly a lunging backhand winner.
Nishikori had hit the ball to a point where no human being should be allowed to even lay a racquet, yet Novak did as he frequently does, to the delight and amazement of us all.
Kei Nishikori has enjoyed a great tournament, and now is back where he belongs, a threat to most of the top ten in the world. However, to be brutally honest, he for all his abilities is a lesser version of the Djokovic model.
In fact the latest top of the range deluxe Djokovic vehicle is almost ready for factory release, in time for an initial test drive amongst the heaviest Argentine traffic on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment