It’s Novak Djokovic again!
The world no.1 reaches his 3rd consecutive final in the season’s finale after a strange match against Nishikori.
Nole was absolutely superior during the 1st and 3rd set to go on vacation in the 2nd. The Serbian won the opener in just 23 minutes (6-1) giving the impression that he would have won this semis in “Serbinator style”. The impression was also confirmed in the 2nd set when Nole broke Nishikori in the very first game. 1 set and 1 break up looked too much for the Japanese that instead broke back Djokovic in the following game (1-1) . Nishikori broke again Djokovic in the 8th game (5-3) to win the second set 6-3.
The most important moment of the match was at the beginning of the decider: Djokovic was already 15-40 down in the first game to save 2 break points and win the game. Interesting enough that was too much for Kei that “decided” he couldn’t take it anymore to implode and lose the third set at “0”. The final score was 6-1 3-6 6-0 and the match ended after 1 hour and 27 minutes. Match Stats
Some numbers
Djokovic was absolutely dominant to win 74 points vs. Nishikori’s 51. The Japanese disappointed again with his 2nd serve to commit 6 double faults (the last one was on match point). This is a pattern that Kei really needs to eliminate as it happens too often for him to double fault on important points to also “dent” his first serve (it’s a sort of “OH my God what if I miss the 1st serve? Am I going to double fault? Let’s be conservative!”)
Djokovic: I was lucky
Nole “shares” our opinion that the key moment was the first game of the decider “I was fortunate because in the beginning of the third set, he had break points. If he broke me, the match could have gone either way. I managed to find that little bit of strength and get a win today. Tomorrow is the last match of the season. Of course it’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world. This is already the biggest possible motivation. I will try to give everything I have.”
Nishikori: I thought I had it
Kei was absolutely upset by the loss to comment “Even the first couple of points in the third set, I thought I had it. I think I started thinking too much that he’s the No. 1 player. I think I risked too much. I made too many unforced errors in the first couple of games. Then he started playing better. It’s very disappointing because I think if I changed a little bit it could have been closer in the third set. But it was a good week.”
With this win Nole leads Nishikori in H2H matches and he got his 31st consecutive victory in indoor courts.
The final vs. Roger
Nole will play Roger Federer in the final to try to get his 3rd consecutive title at the season’s finale. Head to head is 19-17 for Roger, but Nole leads 4-3 in indoor courts. We think that the Serbian is the hot favorite as Roger looked rather “spent” after his 2 hours and 48 minutes win against Wawrinka in the semis.
Let’s see if the Maestro can surprise us once again!