Novak Djokovic has become the first man in history to win 30 Masters titles after defeating Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-5, in the final of the Rogers Cup.
The encounter marked the 12th meeting between Djokovic and Nishikori on the tour. The World No.1 hasn’t lost to his rival since the semifinals of the 2014 US Open and has defeated him eight consecutive times prior to Toronto.
Initially the match started with both players matching each other game by game. The closeness between the two was abolished in the sixth game due to an error-stricken Nishikori service game. A forehand from the Japanese player drifted beyond the baseline to hand Djokovic his first break of the match. That break was the turning point of the set as the superiority of Djokovic’s game proved too much for his opponent. Producing two aces, six winners and a 85% first serve winning rate. The world No.1 cruise to a one set lead after a lengthy rally, consisting of some impressive defensive play from both men, concluded with another Nishikori error.
Watch one heck of a crazy, loopy (literally!) set point for @DjokerNole #RogersCup https://t.co/kRsZ9uv0ca https://t.co/BUWDcGd94L
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 31, 2016
The Djokovic master-class continued into the second set as Nishikori started to implode in his service games. A tentative serve from the Japanese player was returned with interest by the world No.1, rewarding him with a triple break point opportunity to lead by a set and 2-1. Djokovic was then gifted his second break after a shot from his rival drifted out.
Djokovic’s dominance for the first set-and-a-half prompted Nishikori to produce some of his best tennis of the entire tournament. The third seed is accustomed to battling back from the brink. During Saturday’s semifinals, the 26-year-old trailed 2-5 to Stan Wawrinka before clawing his way back to win in straight sets. A world class forehand winner down the line resulted in Nishikori breaking back, triggering an almighty cheer from the army of Japanese fans in the crowd at Toronto.
In his biggest test of the match, the top seed had the task of serving to stay in the second set. Djokovic passed with flying colours as he held to love to level proceedings 5-5. The same couldn’t be said for Nishikori, who produced a duo of tentative errors at the most costly time of the match. A loose forehand followed by a backhand error rewarded the Serbian with another break and most significantly his first chance to serve for an historic 30th Masters title. Closing in on the victory, an unreturned serve out wide handed him two championship points, but he failed to convert either. It was third time lucky for the world No.1 after a serve down the link resulted in Nishikori blasting the ball outside of the court.
Shortly after his historic win, Djokovic paid tribute to Davis Cup team mates Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic, who was was sitting with his camp in the crowd. Hugging them both almost immediately after his triumph, he personally thanked them for their support.
“The amount of support and good energy I get from them is tremendous.” He said.
“I love them very much and with one hug I can feel all that love.”
During his award ceremony, the world No.1 also did something that he had never done before, ask everybody in the crowd to ‘hug each other’.
“I promise my friend that if I win this tournament in Toronto that I would ask everybody in the stand to hug everybody next to them.” Djokovic said, taking the crowd by surprise.
It is the fourth time that Djokovic has won Rogers Cup and his first since 2012. He exits Toronto with a prize money fund of $782, 525. The 29-year-old has now won 11 titles out of the last 16 Masters 1000 tournaments.
