TENNIS ATP FINALS – Novak Djokovic won in three sets against Kei Nishikori 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 to book his place in the final of the end-of-year event for the fourth time. He now waits to find out if he will face Federer or Wawrinka. From London, Paul Sassoon
Novak Djokovic is still on course to be the first player since Ivan Lendl to win three consecutive end-of-year tournaments since Ivan Lendl did it between 1985 and 1987. He booked his place for Sunday’s final by winning his 14th consecutive match at this event (last defeat in 2011 against Tipsarevic), his 30th in a row in indoor events by defeating Kei Nishikori 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, in 1 hour and 27 minutes of play. The Japanese player managed to snatch a set from the world number one which is a feat in itself as he had lost just 9 games in 6 sets played so far.
The world number one was uncharacteristically nervous on court today. When he lost his serve at the beginning of the second set some people in the crowd cheered. Usually the Serb is able to let these things slide, but today he reacted and he did provoke some jeers. In the press conference he had an exchange with Ubaldo Scanagatta. He asked why he reacted to the crowd and his reply was a bit edgy, “Why did I react bad? In what way?” Ubaldo explained himself further and he replied, “Yes, I did. It was my fault. It was my fault that I allowed it. mean, look, the end of the day, I cannot blame the crowd. The crowd has a right to do what they want, to cheer for whoever they want. Some individuals that were going over the line throughout the whole match, some provocations that I usually don’t react on, but I did. It was my fault. You know, I lost the concentration. I lost the break because of that. I allowed myself to be in the situation to lose the set, maybe even lose the match. So, yeah, generally it was my fault and I should know better.”
The first set started with three consecutive serve holds , but at his second service game Nishikori lost his on serve game. After just 13 minutes there was the feeling that the match was headed towards another blow-out which was confirmed when the serb made a second break in the sixth game and also by the world number five’s difficulty in returning serve. Nishikori managed just 2 points on return in the second set.
The start of the second set was even more indicative of a blow-out, as Nishikori lost his serve again in a service game he opened with a double fault. But the world number five came back taking advantage of Djokovic’s moment of difficulty. The Serb failed to place his first serve in four out of six occasions losing the game with a double fault on the break point. The double fault was greeted by many cheers by the crowd, some of the applause came from the Federer and Nishikori fans in the stands, but the majority probably came from ordinary spectators who were just hoping to see a close match after the quick one-sided matches of the Round Robin. Djokovic didn’t appreciate and lost his concentration. Nishikori increased the efficiency of his serve and never gave an opportunity to his opponent to break him again. Instead he was the one to snatch the serve from the Serb to the surprise of the crowd. In the ninth game the world number one was once again struggling to place his first serve and Nishikori was very aggressive with his return. In the tenth game he closed the second set 6-3, the first set lost by the Serb in this tournament.
Nishikori’s positive moment didn’t last long, as he lost serve in the second game of the final set and never recovered. Djokovic quickly went through the game breaking serve again in the fourth and sixth games and never giving his opponent the chance to break back. Unceremoniously Nishikori double faulted on the second match point, but it was indicative of the weakness of the Japanese player today. Djokovic won 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
Djokovic explained that he felt a bit drained today, “it’s the last match of the season. Honestly, today I found it a little bit difficult mentally to stay concentrated throughout the whole match. After emotional three matches I had, especially yesterday when I achieved the goal to finish as No. 1 of the world, knowing that, I felt a little bit, I would say, flat emotionally today. I needed a little bit more time to kind of give myself a boost. I was fortunate because in the beginning of the third set, he had breakpoints. If he broke me, the match could have gone either way.”
After the match Nishikori believes that Djokovic is beatable on this court despite the his undefeated streak, “Even last set was bagel, I had couple chance first couple games. The first set he played really good, too good for me. But second set I start playing well. He got little bit tight. I took some risk. Everything worked well in the second. I was playing well. Even first couple points in third set, I thought I had it. I think I start thinking too much about he’s No. 1 player, Novak. I think I risked too much. I think I did too many unforced errors first couple games. Then he start playing better. You know, it’s very disappointing because I think if I little bit change I could be I think little more closer in the third set.” And on his season he said, “it was, I mean, one of the best year for me. Even this was first experience, I think I did really well. Now, you know, little bit disappointed. I could go final, but he was little better. For sure that I have to do well this off season. I have to train well and injury free again. But, you know, I think I will have a lot of chance for big tournaments, especially Grand Slams. Hopefully I can come back to the final again. I love to play Australian Open. Hope I can have good start of the year next year.”
