By Chris Oddo | Friday May 18, 2018
Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to earn his 12th consecutive win over Kei Nishikori and set a popcorn semifinal with Rafael Nadal.
Photo SourceDean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Europe
It’s all coming together for Novak Djokovic. After a first third of a season that was marred by injury, self-doubt and coaching turmoil, the former World No.1 has suddenly surged to form at the Foro Italico in Rome this week.
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On Friday he played his most resilient—and jaw-dropping—tennis of the season to overcome an in-form Kei Nishikori, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, and surge into his ninth career semi-final at Rome.
Next up? A 51st meeting with Rafael Nadal for a spot in the final.
It’s difficult to say if Djokovic is ready for Nadal at this stage of his return to form, particularly because he’ll have less than 24 hours to recover from today’s slugfest with Nishikori before the two meet on Court Centrale on Saturday, but without a doubt the experience will be a good gauge for Djokovic and his team as they make final preparations for Roland Garros.
Win or lose it is imperative that Djokovic sees what he’ll be up against, both in terms of facing a Nadal who is at the top of his game and in terms of stringing intense matches together against rugged opponents, if he is to speed up his progress even further.
As it stands right now, Djokovic is progressing nicely. He had already proved that by playing vastly improved tennis and reaching his first quarter-final of the season at Rome, but today’s victory over a quality player like Nishikori shows that he has taken another step and that there may be more to come soon.
Pushed to the limits by the clay-savvy Nishikori, Djokovic responded to getting whipped in the first set with a gritty, awe-inspiring performance in the final two stanzas to earn the victory.
If Nishikori was generous in set two (he fell behind 4-0 and made some easy errors), he was far from it in the decider, despite the horrifically botched overhead that helped Djokovic claim the early break and a 2-1 lead.
Nishikori didn’t let it faze him and responded quickly with a break of his own for 2-all.
An intense tug-of-war would follow, and Djokovic pulled himself out of Nishikori’s clutches with the type of belief and growl that he has not been able to produce in 2018, until now. He broke for 4-3 and then won a marathon game to hold for 5-3.
Moments later Djokovic seized on an opportunity and broke Nishikori again to close affairs in 2:21. The celebration that ensued was intense, indicating that maybe Djokovic has become a little too far too fast this week in Rome, and he could be ripe for the reeling for Nadal.
But there was something so visceral in the way the Serb played—and celebrated—that it also could be that he has traveled the wide chasm that has separated him from being a contender all season in one whirlwind week.
After an effort like that it’s hard to believe that Novak Djokovic doesn’t have some of his best days ahead of him. Whether or not one of them will be tomorrow remains to be seen, but he’ll be better for the experience either way.