By Ricky Dimon
Two of Super Saturday’s protagonists at the U.S. Open are two players who just about everyone expected to be there; the top two seeds, in fact. The other two, however, are not entirely expected. All in all, it makes for an intriguing men’s singles semifinal lineup featuring Novak Djokovic vs. Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer vs. Marin Cilic.
Djokovic and Nishikori will be squaring off for just the third time in their careers, with the head-to-head series standing at 1-1. They were supposed to face each other earlier this season in Miami, but Nishikori withdrew from the scheduled semifinal with a groin injury. The Japanese is star is in the midst of a thrilling run in New York that includes two straight five-set wins over Milos Raonic and Stan Wawrinka.
“I remember once he would just kind of make a breakthrough and start playing well he would get injured,” Djokovic said of Nishikori. “That has been quite an obstacle for him, but so far he’s been looking pretty fit in this tournament. Back-to-back five sets is a great sign physically for him.
“I think he’s playing best tennis of his life in the last 12 months. He started working with Michael Chang and he changed a few things in his game. He serves very efficiently. Obviously he’s very, very fast; maybe one of the fastest on the tour. (He has a) great backhand, great forehand; all-around player.”
Like Nishikori, Federer also needed five sets in his quarterfinal match. The 33-year-old saved two match points in a 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Gael Monfils.
Next up for Federer is Cilic, against whom the No. 2 seed is 5-0 lifetime. A red-hot Cilic trounced Tomas Berdych in straight sets on Thursday.
“He’s playing really nice,” Federer said of Cilic. “I must say he’s really cleaned up his game. I thought (on Thursday vs. Berdych) he played great. I think he’s doing great. I know it’s going to be a tough match. I played him in Toronto; funny match. I didn’t play great in the first set but somehow got it done, and then I think I wasted like eight match points in the second set; had to go three. So it was good to beat him.”
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.
Topics: Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News, US Open tennis
RICKY’S PICKS FOR THE @usopen SUPER SATURDAY: @DjokerNole VS. @keinishikori, @rogerfederer VS. #CILIC- http://t.co/ckh538Aywb @RD_Tennistalk