Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka lost his momentum in a surprise turnaround as the second seed went down in the semi-finals of the Toronto Masters to Japan’s Kei Nishikori 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.
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These two have played 11 times in the past and Djokovic has won nine of those meetings. Today it wasn ” t to be but I won in straight sets.
Djokovic and Monfils were scheduled to play their semifinal later Saturday on centre court at York University’s Aviva Centre. But one night after playing spoiler and five matches into the Rogers Cup, it finally looked as if all the winning had finally caught up to Monfils.
“I tried to play more. patient”, he said. “I’m lucky. I get some few pains, but hopefully not major”. “It’s the same feeling, you know, either way”. Big match like this, you learn.
The serve remains a serious issue for Djokovic.
Raonic had the crowd’s full support, with the chair umpire repeatedly having to ask the fans to quiet down. “I always felt like at home”.
Nishikori closed it out on the first of three match points.
Three unforced errors were Wawrinka’s undoing in the first set, with a double fault robbing him of the advantage on serve, then a forehand way wide of the court – nearly into the stands – giving Nishikori the tiebreak set point. But in the next game, Monfils would commit a series of unforced errors, including pushing a backhand long to end a spectacular 39-shot rally, giving the break right back.
“You don’t feel good on the court when you miss that kind of shot”.
Overall, however, the first set was far from ugly.
Both men put on an epic show for the capacity crowd early, with lengthy rallies distinguishing their match from numerous others.
The second set was pathetic from the Swiss and it’s Nishikori who goes through to the final, where no doubt he’ll be the next to lose to Novak Djokovic in a Masters 1000 championship match. “Bit fortunate I must say”, he said in an on-court interview.
Prediction: I’m going to take Djokovic in straight sets.
After battling hard to claim the lead, Nishikori was then able to cruise through set two as his rival collapsed in surprising fashion – a truly horrendous miss at the net late on summing up Wawrinka’s display. He became super solid.
The Japanese player, who reached the final in Miami and the last four in both Madrid and Rome in ATP Masters 1000 events earlier this season, emerged victorious in a see-sawing encounter that lasted a little more than two hours. Should he win, it’ll be his fourth title in Canada.
That makes, then, a truly remarkable 14th final from Djokovic’s last 15 Masters.
Djokovic had to fight off break points in the first game as he took longer to settle, and Monfils took advantage in the third game to bring up three more break chances.
For Monfils, who knows, can he finally win a Slam?
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“I am very happy to be here in the final tomorrow but I really have to play my (best) tennis to beat either Novak or Monfils”. Otherwise he’s going to come back. “I knew I had to step it up”. He has beaten Nishikori the previous eight times that they have played.
