Nishikori took two hours and 23 minutes to battle past Berdych, and will play Federer on Thursday. Nishikori and Berdych provided the match of the tournament so far – an absorbing duel full of eye-catching rallies. “The good thing is that it’s a round-robin system, so I still have an opportunity to reach the semis”.
Advertisement
“I know it’s a big win”.
Djokovic could not recover from from the early break and dropped serve again to fall 4-2 behind as Federer finished the match in emphatic style, winning the final four games.
But Federer was strong Tuesday, as he usually is on an indoor hard court. “Well, he wasn’t as good as in the first set”, Federer told reporters. The Swiss legend, with this win also narrowly leads the head-to-head tally against Djokovic with 22-21.
“Novak wasn’t as good as in the first set but with the way he’s played this season, you still have to put him away”, said Federer. He used the slice and spin very wisely. He served very efficiently. It was important to strike again as quick as possible in the second set, and I did. Reacting to Djokovic’s claim that he handed him the win, Federer said: “It’s not like he played bad”.
Q: I think this is the second time this has happened for you against Novak. He was the last player to dent the 28-year-old Belgrade native’s current hot streak when he successfully defended his ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati title prior to this year’s US Open. His advanced tennis years haven’t slowed down the record 17-time men’s grand slam champion in 2015.
“But that’s sport. Sometimes these kind of matches, these kind of days happen”. “I have to accept it and hopefully work on it tomorrow and get better next time”.
In the early match, Nishikori posted a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Berdych.
In the third and deciding set, Nishikori saved a break point at 3-3, the key moment in the match. “It was clear in my head how I wanted to play”. Last shot, I went for it, closed my eyes. Federer was continuing to go for his shots and Novak was still a little bit up and down and had at times seemed a bit off balance with many of his groundstrokes. Berdych had lost eight of his previous 11 matches at the season-ending showpiece. “Basically, that was it. That was the difference today”.
Berdych was 2-0 down in the second set but turned it around, winning five games in a row.
Advertisement
Federer even managed to strike a blow before a ball was struck on Tuesday, sitting on the court-side chair which already had Djokovic’s towel draped on it. “It’s always exciting”, he said. “I have to win the next match to qualify (from) the group”.
