The world No. 6 had his back against the wall in the first set but came through to win 7-6 (6), 6-1 in 89 minutes to move within one win of his first Masters title. Including this recently concluded Canadian event, Djokovic also took the Miami Masters title over Nishikori earlier in March.
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After claiming the Rogers Cup title, Djokovic will now try to get the prestigious Olympic gold medal this Rio Olympics after failing last 2012 London Olympics to end in a podium finish.
In the absence of world No. 2 Andy Murray and injured former No. 1s Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, he still ambled across the finish line, in the final defeating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5 for the Rogers Cup title in Toronto on Sunday. It was Djokovic’s ninth consecutive win against Nishikori, who was bidding for his first Masters 1000 tournament title.
“I know that he loves to take the control of the rallies and just to kind of overpower his opponent from the back of the court”, said Djokovic, who feels his game is centred on the baseline.
Monfils went into his clash with Djokovic having won nine straight matches, including the Citi Open title in Washington DC last Sunday.
“Today I think he raised his level a lot”, Nishikori said (via the Rogers Cup Toronto on Twitter).
Known as the game’s most dominant returner especially on first serves, he won just 30% of his return points in that situation.
The post Djokovic Beats Nishikori To Win Fourth Rodgers Cup appeared first on 360Nobs.com. Nishikori manages to save set point once, but fails to do so in the following game to give Djokovic the match opener after barely half an hour.
After a Wimbledon campaign that Djokovic would rather forget, it was essential that he started his hard court swing in the best possible light. “He’s been playing great”.
The fifth-seeded Halep faces American Madison Keys in a rematch of the Romanian player’s three-set victory in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. “So I expect that I will not have a good rhythm because she can hit a victor and you don’t see the ball, but she can miss sometimes”.
Instead, this match provided more evidence of why Djokovic is the world number one, and one of the best to ever play the sport. The Serb evaluated his play as his best of the week.
The second seed was all about the Asian ace as Wawrinka’s game evaporated.
After his loss, Nishikori tried to remain upbeat about his performance against Djokovic and during the week in Toronto.
Nishikori dug down for a high volley over the net that Djokovic could have easily returned. Wawrinka had two set points at six games to five and two more in the tiebreak, but the final point he needed alluded him each time.
After a tight first set settled by a tiebreaker, Nishikori shifted gears and spent the second half beating Wawrinka to the punch.
It was a match Keys would no doubt like to quickly forget as she finished with 45 unforced errors and had her serve broken five times, including four times in the opening set. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won 6-3, 6-2.
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“I knew it was going to be a tough one”, Halep said.
