By Chris Oddo | Friday April 1, 2016
Kei Nishikori took down Nick Kyrgios in straight sets to reach the Miami final.
Photo Source: Christopher Levy
Kei Nishikori weathered a storm by the name of Nick Kyrgios on Friday in Miami, using his superior baseline game to keep the young Aussie at bay and converting on his numerous chances with veteran’s poise to notch a convincing 6-3, 7-5 victory.
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Nishikori, who saved five match points in an epic quarterfinal with Gael Monfils on Thursday, advances to his second career Masters 1000 final where he will face Novak Djokovic for the ninth time.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Nishikori. “First time coming to the final here in Miami, and a very good fight today, so very happy.”
Nishikori won for the second time in two career matches against Kyrgios by controlling play and making the young Aussie work for his opportunities. He finished with 19 winners against just 12 unforced errors, while Kyrgios finished with 18 winners against 28 unforced errors.
The numbers don’t always tell the story in such cases, but in this case they do not lie. Kyrgios had difficulty making inroads in the rallies, lacked aggression on the backhand side, and Nishikori was simply too strong from both wings. Japan’s No. 1 hit deep, played angles, moved Kyrgios from side to side and rarely did he make a mistake.
Kyrgios didn’t help his own cause in the first set when he double-faulted on break point to hand Nishikori the 2-1 lead, and then double-faulted again on set point.
But Nishikori donated a double-fault himself in the fourth game of the second set and it got Kyrgios, who had fallen behind by a set and a break, back on serve and seemed to give him a spot of traction in the match.
“I got a little bit tight after I broke his serve,” said Nishikori of his double-fault in the fourth game. “I tried to be focused and tried to be aggressive [after that], and I did.”
From there the 20-year-old Aussie’s serve was much more difficult to contend with, but Kyrgios still could not make inroads in Nishikori’s service games.
The No. 6 seed won his 13th consecutive service point to get to 6-5, and then earned a match point with Kyrgios serving to stay alive in the next game. The Aussie responded with a 120 MPH second serve and cleaned up the next ball to get back to deuce, but two points later Nishikori won an incredible improvisational rally with a clean volley winner at the net to clinch his victory in one hour and 24 minutes.
“It was very tight,” Nishikori said. “If I lose that point it goes to a tiebreak almost. But at the net I’m more confident so I thought I played a good point.”
Nishikori will face Djokovic for the ninth time on Sunday in Miami. The pair met in Australia earlier in the season with the Serb coming through in straight sets before winning his 11th major title.
Djokovic owns the 6-2 lifetime edge over Nishikori, including five in a row after falling to Nishikori at the 2014 U.S. Open semifinals.
“It’s going to be tough, for sure, he’s been playing well,” Nishikori said. “We just played in Australia and I lost in three sets so I have to do something better.”
Notes, Numbers
Kyrgios is the first Australian to reach the Miami semis since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002… Kyrgios will become the youngest in the Top 20 since 20-year-old Marin Cilic on Sept. 21, 2009… Nishikori, who saved five match points in the quarterfinals to defeat Gael Monfils, reaches his second career Masters 1000 final with the win, and first since May of 2014… Despite the loss, Kyrgios will crack the top-20 and be the No. 1 ranked Aussie for the first time next week.