Kei Nishikori will play in his first ever Canadian Open final after defeating Stan Wawrinka 7-6(6), 6-1, in an error-stricken encounter in Montreal.
Nishikori went into the match eager to seek revenge following his straight sets loss to Wawrinka at the 2015 Australian Open. The world No.6 had a losing head-to-head of 1-3 against his rival before shining in their latest encounter.
The opening set consisted of erratic and inconsistent play from both players throughout. Two consecutive unforced errors from the Japanese player gifted Wawrinka the first break of the match to lead 3-1. The slow start appeared to be fatal to Nishikori’s first set hopes as the Swiss player raced to a 5-2 lead. Despite trailing in the set, his chances was swiftly revived due to some nervous play from Wawrinka as a series of costly errors from the second seed allowed him to level at 5-5.
It was a case of so near but so far for Wawrinka as Nishikori produced some fine defensive play. Fending off a duo of set points, the world No.5 took proceedings into a roller coaster tiebreaker. Facing an additional two set points in the tiebreaker, Nishikori refused to succumb to the power of Wawrinka as the two-time grand slam champion finally imploded. A fortunate ball bounce handed the third seed his first set point and unlike Wawrinka, he was able to convert after another error from his erratic opponent.
Despite clinching the opening set, Nishikori’s error-to-winner ratio of 20-10 is one that will leave him with a lot to think about. He wasn’t alone in providing a substandard first set performance. His opponent’s record was even worse at 23-11.
Regardless of the questionable opening set, the efforts invested by Nishikori had a devastating impact on his rivals mentality. Closing in on his second Masters 1000 final of the year, the 26-year-old grabbed two consecutive breaks to ease to a set and a 4-0 lead.
Stan Wawrinka misses this shot so bad he covers his head up with his shirt pic.twitter.com/o556THasRP
— Mo Tafolla (@MoTafolla) 30 July 2016
Wawrinka did avoid the bagel set, but there was no chance of the Swiss staging a comeback considering the below-par state of his play in Toronto.
Serving for the match, Nishikori raced to 40-0 following a backhand shank from his opponent. The match was then given to Nishikori after error No.37 from Wawrinka.
Similar stats but @keinishikori ran away with it in the second to reach #RogersCup final! https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/BJf9rEDade
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) 30 July 2016
The win in Toronto is a milestone achievement in Nishikori’s career. It is the first time that the 26-year-old has been able to defeat a top 5 player since Novak Djokovic at the 2014 US Open. He is now just one win away from winning his first Masters 1000 title. In the final he will play either top seed Djokovic or Gael Monfils.
