NISHIKORI WINS DOGFIGHT AGAINST FERRER, TO FACE NADAL IN MADRID FINAL BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: on 10th May 2014
Tennis Mutua Madrid Open
NISHIKORI WINS DOGFIGHT AGAINST FERRER, TO FACE NADAL IN MADRID FINAL BY RICKY DIMON

epa04200110 Kei Nishikori of Japan returns the ball during his Mutua Open Madrid Masters 1000 tennis tournament's men's single semi final match against David Ferrer of Spain at the Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid, Spain, 10 May 2014. EPA/EMILIO NARANJO  |

Kei Nishikori celebrated his unofficial first full day as a member of the ATP Top 10 (he will not officially reach that mark until the new rankings are released, likely on Monday morning) with one of the most impressive wins of his career on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open.

 

Nishikori outlasted David Ferrer 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 in a semifinal thriller that was the longest match of the tournament at two hours and 56 minutes and is already being lauded as one of the best matches of the year. A hard-to-believe final game that lasted more than 17 minutes with Nishikori serving at 5-3 in the third set saw the eventual winner squander eight more match points (he had already missed one in the second set) before finally getting the job done.

 

“Hopefully it’s big, big news in Japan,” Nishikori said of his appearance in a Masters 1000 title match. “But it’s not like Europe. Tennis is very big here (in Europe). Japan or Asia it’s not one of the biggest sports yet, so I don’t know if everybody knows how important this tournament is. But hopefully I can, you know, do well these Masters and Grand Slams and hopefully the tennis get more bigger in Japan.”

 

“I’m hurt because I’ve lost a really tough match,” Ferrer admitted. “He played at a really high level.”

 

Nishikori will have to do the same on Sunday because his opponent is none other than world No. 1 and defending Madrid champion Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard ousted countryman Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.

 

“After a great match yesterday (against Tomas Berdych), I have the confirmation today that the improvement is real,” assessed Nadal, who had previously lost quarterfinals in both Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. “It’s very good news for me. I think for moments I played great tennis against an opponent that is playing really well and improving a lot.”

 

The favorite has additional good news on his side heading into Sunday’s championship match. First, he is 6-0 lifetime against Nishikori and 15-1 in total sets. Furthermore, Nishikori dealt with a lower-back injury against both Lopez and Ferrer. Already less than 100 percent before even playing his semifinal marathon, the No. 10 seed is now faced with a monumental test.

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