By Erik Gudris | Saturday, August 8, 2015
In a highly anticipated rematch, Kei Nishikori avenged his US Open loss to Marin Cilic by reaching the Citi Open final.
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Japan's Kei Nishikori earned a measure of revenge and achieved another milestone in his career by reaching the Citi Open final in Washington, D.C. He did so by defeating last year's US Open champion Marin Cilic in a back and forth semifinal on Saturday.
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The highly anticipated rematch was the first meeting between the two men since Cilic beat Nishikori to win the US Open last September. Saturday's semifinal proved hard to predict as both mens' level rose and fell throughout the three set contest.
While Nishikori admitted later he couldn't help but be aware of the hype surrounding the rematch since New York, he was more focused on playing well in the semifinal.
"I wasn't thinking too much about. I was concentrating on playing well in semifinal. I had to make some adjustments after playing Marin in the US Open," Nishikori said. "In New York I wasn't there mentally and didn't play quite well, and he played really well, but today I was playing much better tennis."
Cilic started strong in the opening set with big serving and good returns that earned him a quick service break. His first test came in the fifth game when Cilic fought off two break points against him to extend his lead to 4-1.
With his fifth ace, Cilic later served out the set 6-3.
Nishikori turned things around right at the beginning of the second set. Stepping into the baseline and taking control of the rallies, Nishikori finally claimed his first service break of the day. Up 3-0, Nishikori took a medical time out to have his legs rubbed but it didn't stop his momentum. Cilic's own level began to dip as he started committing more errors. That included shanking a backhand well wide to give Nishikori another break for 4-0.
Nishikori soon ripped a potent forehand winner to take the set 6-1 and force a deciding set. Japan's No. 1 would convert on another break point to take and early lead in the final set.
Cilic kept in touch with Nishikori with better serving and soon made his move while down 4-3. With a drop volley winner followed by a forehand winner, Cilic eventually broke Nishikori for 4-all. But Cilic couldn't keep his momentum going as he threw in a poor game to hand the break back.
Now serving again with the lead at 5-4, Nishikori would not falter. Nishikori reached match point and then served out the 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.
The result is historic as Nishikori is now the first Japanese man in the Open Era to reach the D.C. final. This is Nishikori's fourth final of the season.
Despite the loss, Cliic took aways positives from the match that he feels he can draw upon later in the season.
"For me it was the best match of the tournament. I was close to staying in the third set when I broke back. I thought generally overall I was feeling the ball better. In the first set I was playing extremely well, and second set in a couple of points Kei played really well to break me and that changed the momentum. Later in the third set we were both playing high quality tennis and I think it was a matter of few point that decided it. And overall I'm pretty satisfied with the performance and giving me some vision for next days and next week on what to be focused on."
"It was really tough because he was playing really well in the beginning," Nishikori added. "Third set there were many ups and down. It was really tough third set but I think I showed some good tennis and it was great win for me."
Nishikori will now face the winner of the second semifinal between John Isner and Steve Johnson.