NADAL TAKES ADVANTAGE OF HOBBLED NISHIKORI FOR MADRID TITLE BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 11th May 2014

NADAL TAKES ADVANTAGE OF HOBBLED NISHIKORI FOR MADRID TITLE BY RICKY DIMON

epa04201900 Rafael Nadal of Spain bites the winner's trophy after his Mutua Open Madrid Masters 1000 tennis tournament's men's single final match agaisnt Kei Nishikori of Japan in Madrid, central Spain, 11 May 2014. Nishikori pulled out due to an injury after one hour and 42 minutes of play and Nadal won the match (2-6, 6-4, 3-0). EPA/EMILIO NARANJO |

Rafael Nadal went back-to-back at the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday. However, he did not do it in the way anyone could have hoped.

Nadal won the event for a second straight year when Kei Nishikori retired due to a bad back while trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0. An on-fire Nishikori, who recently captured the Barcelona title and had not lost a match since Indian Wells, once led 6-2, 4-2 before his injury that plagued him throughout the week flared up.

“It was very sad, especially (because) I was winning, playing almost best tennis in my life,” said Nishikori, whose two-hour and 55-minute semifinal battle against David Ferrer just one day earlier could not have helped. “If I’m not hurt, I may have chance to win today.

Yesterday was fine, but after the match I was feeling (it) a lot. If you play three sets with a guy like David, you run a lot. It was very hard to wake up today. That 4‑2 game made (it) really bad. After that, I couldn’t really move.”

“I’m very sorry for Nishikori,” Nadal added. “He’s an unbelievable player that will fight to be in London (the year-end World Tour Finals). I am sure of that. I really hope that the injury is not too bad and he will be able to compete in Roland Garros.”

Nishikori, who plans on being ready for the French Open later this month, is flying back to Florida to rest. As expected, he has officially withdrawn from this week’s Rome Masters. A scheduled first-round showdown between Nishikori and Ernests Gulbis is no more. Instead, lucky loser Alejandro Falla will face the in-form Latvian.

Nadal has now won 63 ATP Tour titles in his illustrious career, including 27 of the Masters 1000 variety. The world No. 1 and new 2014 points leader will open in Rome against either Gilles Simon or Filippo Volandri.

Topics: Atp, Kei Nishikori, Madrid, Rafael Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Tennis, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

May 11, 2014 at 10:05 pm

NADAL TAKES ADVANTAGE OF HOBBLED NISHIKORI FOR MADRID TITLE BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk) – http://t.co/En4MqP9PEs @RafaelNadal #tennis