World number one Novak Djokovic defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5 yesterday to win the Toronto hardcourt tournament and claim his 66th career singles title. His four Canadian titles rank as the second-most by any man, behind Ivan Lendl.
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Djokovic, a 12-time Grand Slam victor, has won 10 titles and reached 14 finals in his last 15 ATP Masters 1000 appearances, all of which have come during his run of 108 consecutive weeks atop the ATP rankings. Monfils eliminated Canadian Milos Raonic the night before and looked fresh despite his busy recent schedule, which included winning the biggest title of his career less than a week ago in Washington.
“It’s the biggest event in the history of the sport, so to be part of it is already a huge privilege and honour that I will cherish”, he said.
“Hopefully I’ll get at least one medal”.
The rivalry between Djokovic and Nishikori has been lopsided essentially for as long as they have played head-to-head, but especially since November 2014, as Djokovic has won the last nine matchups the two have played against each other. “It showed me that I was ready, aggressive (and) moving really well”.
Djokovic has the opportunity to become the tournament’s first four-time victor when he meets Nishikori in Sunday’s final.
This post was syndicated from 360Nobs.com. The Serb evaluated his play as his best of the week. Djokovic was able to get the break again to take a 6-5 advantage and serve for the championship.
Djokovic continued to command the match in the second set, going up 2-1 after converting his second break point. “So that gives me a lot of confidence that I will try to carry into Rio”. “If gave him chance, you know, he’s a top player so he’s gonna come back strong”.
Chardy started to favor his foot after Pospisil went up 30-0 in the first game of the second set.
Playing in his first tournament since a shock defeat to Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon third round, Djokovic put his disappointment behind him and lifted the trophy without dropping a set throughout the competition.
Wawrinka made a confident start against Nishikori, breaking him in the fourth game of the match to lead 3-1 and then 5-2. Djokovic was struggling with the consistency of his second serve in the earlier rounds and it brought back memories of Djokovic’s frailties on serve in his younger years.
The fifth-seeded Halep will face Madison Keys today in a rematch of the Romanian player’s three-set victory in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. I think I did it pretty well and she missed shots. Nishikori’s final wild shot went slightly too deep – close enough that Djokovic returned it as the line judge ruled it out.
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After a quick 32-minute first set, Djokovic overcame a break point by Nishikori with two breaks of his own in the second set to clinch the title, 1000 ATP points and the 782,525 United States dollar prize.
