Djokovic Moves Past Nishikori in Rome
World number one Novak Djokovic defeated Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday to reach the tournament’s semifinals. The Serb notched a break in the second game of the opening set and would go on to serve the rest of it out, capturing the first set.
Nishikori responded nicely in the second set, breaking Djokovic in the sixth game to jump ahead 4-2 and would go on to close it out 6-3 to force a deciding third set.
The third set belonged completely to Djokovic as Nishikori seemed to run out of gas and was unable to maintain his second set form. He broke twice, in the fourth and sixth games, to cruise 6-1 in the deciding set.
“Both of us were struggling to find the right rhythm; there weren’t many great points. I think it was just trying to hold your serve and wait for the opportunities on the opponent’s serve,” said Djokovic. “I thought I played pretty well in the first set. I had some opportunities for a double break. I started the second well, then just played a pretty bad game, some double faults. He got confidence from that break and deserved to win the second set. The break at 2-1 in the third set was crucial. I knew that breaking his serve would give me wings and the match was gone in a very short time.”
Djokovic will play seventh-seed David Ferrer in the semifinals. Ferrer beat Belgian David Goffin 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Friday.
Roger Federer beat sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final four in Rome.
The second-seeded Swiss actually fell down a break in the opening set, but rattled off four straight games to take the first set. A break in the seventh game of the second set allowed him to serve out the rest of the match.
“From the baseline I was playing very well,” said Federer. “My serve was not quite there in the beginning. I had to go through too many second serves and he was able to take advantage of that and break early. For me, it was important to pick it up on the serve, which is maybe the easiest thing to do. I felt good again on the return, moving well. As it went on, I think I got into the match better and better. The wind picked up in the second set. That’s why I think Tomas didn’t play so well anymore and I was able to get the job done. So I’m very pleased how the match went.”
Federer will play the winner of fourth-seed Rafael Nadal and eighth-seed Stan Wawrinka.
