Djokovic defeats Japan’s world no. 6 Kei Nishikori in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
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The 29-year-old solidified a 4-2 lead from a love break of the fading Frenchman, and lined up three set points three games later.
“I worked on it (with my coach)”, Djokovic, who struggled on serve earlier in the tournament, said in a courtside interview.
The one they call Nole did not relent, breaking back to go up 6-5 in the second and serve out the match. The title also gives him 30 career titles at the Masters Series level, an all-time best among all players. His intensity spiked and for the first time in the afternoon, Nishikori was all hollers and pumping fists. His first triumph at this event came back in 2007 and he also prevailed in 2011 and 2012 before finishing runner-up to Andy Murray previous year. He has 12 Grand Slam titles, winning this year in Australia and France.
“He raised his level a lot from a couple of days ago”, said Nishikori, who earns $383,690 and 600 tour points for finishing second.
Moyes had been out of work for eight months after being sacked by Real Sociedad last November, but the former Manchester United and Everton manager feels reinvigorated after returning to the Premier League. I was not getting numerous free points (as I did today).
The Serb lifted his game in Canada as the week progressed, sweeping to the title without the loss of a set and dispatching challenges from Gael Monfils in the semi-finals followed by Japan’s Nishikori.
Coming here, he also faced injury problems through the grass swing, withdrawing at Halle and retiring in the fourth round of Wimbledon with a rib injury, and he opted not to defend his Washington title last week. “But you learn even when you are exhausted like this”. That’s not guarantee you that you can win the match.
“It was a shame to lose the final but it was still a great week for me”, Nishikori said.
Toronto’s Serbian community was out in force among the capacity crowd, waving flags and cheering lustily for their countrymen.
Djokovic did indeed hug the man next to him – but it was a little more awkward in the stands.
This victory indicates that Djokovic really does mean business when it comes to chasing down the grand slam tally of Roger Federer – he is now five grand slam victories away from the Swiss now.
“I had to stay committed from the beginning and I’m very, very pleased with the way I played”. “It’s one of the biggest tournaments we have in sports”.
Monfils was better on the big points in this match-up of two elite servers, staving off all four break points he faced and converting two of his four chances to win 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic was the big favourite Friday evening against the fifth-seeded Czech, having won 24 of their previous 26 matches, but he squandered a 5-2 first-set lead and almost lost the tie-breaker when he went down 3-6, reports Efe.
Earlier, Nishikori defeated Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (6), 6-1 to advance to the final.
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He put extra loft on a forehead to create an unforced error from Nishikori on game point, before triumphantly pointing at his head to illustrate his savvy. “Always when I’ve played against her it was a hard match”. “That’s it”, Wawrinka said. “You don’t feel good on the court when you miss that kind of shot”.
