Novak Djokovic beats Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to progress to the finals of the Italian Open.
It is Djokovic’s seventh Italian Open final – and he’s won five.
Djokovic won the match, but not before a strong contest from Kei Nishikori. The 26-year-old played a whopper of a game today and could easily have gone to the finals. Saving break points, beautiful winners, some great long rallies from the Japanese ace today saw Djokovic not only troubled but appreciating his rival’s stellar game.
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There was virtually nothing separating the two, with 34 unforced errors apiece, and Nishikori even leading on the winners count. In the end, even the tiebreaker was a close one!
Well played Kei Nishikori. It’ll now be yet another Novak Djokovic – Andy Murray final after the Madrid Masters.
And Novak Djokovic closes it out with an ace.
Nishikori won’t back down. 6-4, now! And an error from Djokovic sees the scores move quickly to go to 6-5. Match point Djokovic still.
Three match points to Novak Djokovic, 6-3 in the tiebreak!
Whopper of a tiebreak with Nishikori taking a 3-1 lead before Djokovic quickly decimates that.
Fun stat time: the last time Djokovic played a deciding 3rd set tiebreaker was in Canada in 2014, against Gael Monfils...so it’s been a while since it really went down to brass tacks for him like this.
Hold of service for Djokovic to go 6-5 and now Nishikori’s at game point. He TAKES IT! A perfect service game for Kei Nishikori takes the final set score to 6-6 and we’ll see a tiebreak!
Kei Nishikori is playing out of his skin today. After holding off break point after break point, he now staves off match point with a beautiful ace!
MATCH POINT Novak Djokovic!
Djokovic holds to go 5-4 and Nishikori now needs to hold to stay in title contention. Pressure’s on him and he’s going neck and neck with the Serb.
4-2 and break point Nishikori....and it’s now deuce with Djokovic saving that break point. And after some back and forth, with Djokovic all over Nishikori, the Japanese ace breaks for a 4-3 scoreline to the Serb.
And Djokovic again takes Nishikori to break point – and again, fails to capitalize! The Japanese player holds to trail 2-4 in the decider and he’s just ended a great rally – unfortunate, but what a rally!
Djokovic now leads 4-1 and it’s break point for him. If he breaks, he’s only a game away from yet another ATP Masters final! It’ll be his 42nd final if he wins today – he’s been in 41 ATP Masters singles finals over his career, winning 29 and finishing runner-up in 12.
And the Djoker is back what a rally, valiant effort from Nishikori, Unfortunately he is on the verge of being a statistic, with Djokovic up 4-1 and looking in fine nick.
Djokovic holds serve! It is mostly Djokovic now – a remarkable transformation from the Djoker – What was in those shoes?
Nishikori held his serve, 3-1, Djokovic still on course, Nishikori showed a bit of backbone in the last game, might be still a match if he breaks Djokovic
Nishikori is struggling and with the Djoker holding serve, it is 3-0, Djokovic saved 2 break points, All signs point towards a final between Murray and Djokovic
And Djokovic is on the verge of another break, and he does it, two consecutive break points, leads 2-0 in the deciding set
Straightaway, Djokovic begins the first set with a hold of serve. Routine stuff now.
SECOND SET Novak Djokovic, 6-4.
The Serb, who showed signs of injury in the first set, has not looked the most comfortable – nevertheless, a great comeback has seen him outhit Nishikori on winners and commit fewer errors to win it 6-4. Djokovic usually goes on to win if he wins a set after dropping one, but given his injury – one that his coaching staff also look concerned about, judgement is reserved.
Djokovic! Djokovic! Djokovic! The crowd cheers for the Serb who’s now at set point!
And Kei Nishikori saves TEN break points so far. Excellent stuff from the Japanese player so far even with a resurgent Djokovic fighting back.
Game point Nishikori – and he takes it! 3-3 in the second set and it's moving along fairly straightforward at this point. Djokovic has come back stronger in this set and each player has held with the Serb now leading 4-3.
Djokovic now leads 3-2 and he’s looking really uncomfortable again. He’s changed his shoes, but his left ankle looks quite swollen.
Nishikori absolutely dominated the first set with 10 winners to Djokovic’s mere 5. 2-2 in the second set now as Djokovic will want to hold for a lead. A double fault from the Serb and Nishikori leads 15-0.
Novak Djokovic holds serve to go 2-1 and pumps the air. His ankle is giving him trouble though, and he will be worried ahead of the French Open. Coach Boris Becker certainly looks it.
A hold from Nishikori means the two are now 1-1 in the second set. Problems, though, with Djokovic’s left ankle and he’s begun spraying the court with unforced errors. Yet again, it’s deuce Kei Nishikori, with a beautiful shot. Djokovic has capitalized on 0 of 7 break points and he’s looking seriously uncomfortable on court now.
Nishikori staves off the Serbian attack and from 40-0 it’s now at deuce....and game point Nishikori!
Oh no! A double fault from Kei Nishikori gives Djokovic a 30-0 lead in the second game of the second set and it’s now break point Novak Djokovic.
FIRST SET to Kei Nishikori, 6-2
Nishikori took an early lead, breaking Djokovic in his second service game, and built on that to hold – breaking the Serb again for a 5-2 lead. Some great baseline play from the Japanese 26-year-old.
Kei Nishikori is on some form today! He’s held serve to go 4-2 ….and BRILLIANT stuff from the Japanese ace – he’s now up a double break at 5-2 and will want to hold serve to take the set.
And he has! Kei Nishikori breaks and holds to take a 3-1 lead with a terrific rally that even Djokovic applauds. He’s completely wrong-footed the Serb and Djokovic knows it.
Break point – and Nishikori takes it! He breaks Djokovic to go 2-1 and take a quick lead. But it’s now break point for Djokovic.
And they’re off! Djokovic serves and holds to go 1-0.
It’s almost time for the semi-final! Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori are now out on Center Court with Djokovic on serve.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic plays World No. 6 Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals of the ATP Rome Masters in the Italian capital today. After defeating King of Clay Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the quarter-finals, the Serb looks on track to win the finals in Rome, the last tournament before the French Open.
Nishikori beat 22nd-ranked Dominic Thiem, who was responsible for the shock ouster of Roger Federer from the tournament. With the Swiss recovering from a bad back, the Austrian defeated him in straight sets to progress to the semis.
Djokovic has been in his usual top form this year, although he was ousted by Czech ace Jiri Vesely at the Monte Carlo Masters last month. His last title came at the Miami Masters in March. The two played each other in the semi-finals of the recently-concluded Madrid Masters, with eventual tournament champion Djokovic winning in straight sets; Nishikori managed to tax the powerful Serb, however, taking him to a tiebreak in the final set.
The Serb came out on top in that match, thoroughly routing the Japanese ace for a 6-3, 6-3 win, although that win came on an outdoor hard court, and Nishikori has historically been strong on clay.
However, of the 10 times the pair have played each other in the past, it is Djokovic who has come out on top 8 times, across surfaces. Nishikori’s most significant win against Djokovic came at the 2014 US Open, where he ousted the top-ranked player in a long-drawn out 5-set match.
Predictions
Going into today’s semi, it is Djokovic who is the clear favourite to win. Given his form over the past year, having swept the title at almost every tournament he has played so far, it is unlikely that any of the top 10 can stop the Serbian juggernaut.
This will be an important psychological win for the Serb, who, with his 11 Grand Slam titles, is yet to win at Roland Garros. Given that he has already taken the Madrid Masters title – taking him to an all-time 29 Masters titles, more than any tennis player in history, winning the Italian Open will give him the momentum he needs going into the French Open, which, should he win, will put him en route to a calendar slam.
It’s a battle of the baseliners today, with both players good at charging the net but preferring to stay on the baseline.
Djokovic beat Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in his quarter-final match, but the Brazilian managed to bagel the World No. 1 in the first set, with Djokovic committing an uncharacteristically high number of unforced errors in that game.
What to expect from the final
World No. 3 Andy Murray, who recently dropped in the rankings after his finals loss to Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Masters, defeated lucky loser Lucas Pouille in the semi-finals. It marks the Scot’s first ever semi-final at the Italian Open.
Murray beat Pouille 6-2, 6-1 with 4 breaks of serve to progress to the finals; following his finals loss in Madrid, Murray also split with longtime coach Amelie Mauresmo, with rumours suggesting that role may be taken over by former World No. 1 Andre Agassi, though there has not been confirmation of this as yet.
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