Tough day for King Roger that had to swallow another tough loss in 2013. This time it was world no.16 Kei Nishikori to beat the Maestro in 3 strange (very strange) sets.
Strange stats
The stats are a bit crazy as Roger won 76 points vs’ Kei’s 69. Roger was superior in many departments to blast 7 aces vs. Kei’s 1 (no double faults for both). He won 74% points on his first serve (Nishikori 69%) and 65% on his second serve (Nishikori 48%). Roger had a very bad day on break points conversion (Roger is not new to it). In fact, he conceded 4 break points to save only 1 while Nishikori conceded 7 break points to save 5.
From Nishikori
“He was my idol. Actually, to beat him, that was one of my goals for my tennis career,” said Nishikori. “It happens on clay and it’s amazing. It’s not really my favourite surface.”
From Federer
“I’m going to go back to the practice court, train hard, and make sure I don’t have these kinds of days anymore,” said Roger
“I was lacking control from the baseline, and that pretty much carried through from start to finish. I’m pretty disappointed with my play. I’m not sure how well Kei thought he played. I didn’t think he had to play his very best either, which is even more disappointing.”
Next vs. Andujar
Kei will play Andujar for a place in the semifianl. Head to head is 1-0 for Nishikri
