World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic is to face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the ATP and WTA Miami Open final after straight-set triumphs on Friday in which both were tested.
Djokovic, an 11-time Grand Slam champion whose three titles this year include the Australian Open, downed Belgian 15th seed David Goffin 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
The 28-year-old Serbian will try to match the career record of six Miami crowns won by Andre Agassi by capturing his third consecutive title at the hardcourt event.
Photo: AFP
“It is a privilege just to be mentioned alongside Andre Agassi,” Djokovic said.
Sixth seed Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, downed Australian 24th seed Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5.
“First Miami final, that makes me very happy,” Nishikori said.
Photo: AFP
Djokovic has a 6-2 career edge over Nishikori, including five wins in a row, most recently in this year’s Australian Open quarter-finals.
“It is going to be tough for sure. He has been playing well,” Nishikori said. “I played him in Australia. I will try to come up with something better.”
Djokovic won his 15th consecutive Miami match and the 29th of his past 30, but only after winning a tense tie-breaker and taking the lone break of the second set, prompting a post-match kissing of the court.
“I wanted to make sure the court feels my love,” Djokovic said. “A little kiss for goodbye and I will see you in two days. I have had so many beautiful memories on that court. It is one of my favorite courts.”
Djokovic improved to 27-1 on the season, which has included his 11th career Grand Slam title and crowns at Doha and Indian Wells.
He could claim the Miami-Indian Wells double for the third year in a row and his 63rd career title today.
DJOKOVIC ‘FORTUNATE’
Squared 4-4 in the tie-breaker, Goffin hit an overhead smash that Djokovic sent back as a lob inside the far baseline to keep the point alive and later took full advantage by winning it with a forehand drop volley winner.
“I was a bit fortunate in the tie-breaker, but I made him play the extra shot,” Djokovic said. “I anticipated where he might smash that ball and he framed it a little bit and that allowed me to get that height. Right place at the right time.”
Goffin added: “I was a little bit tired at the end of the point and it was tough to finish it.”
Goffin, who will jump to a career-best 13th in next week’s rankings, hit a forehand wide to give Djokovic two set points, then saved one on a drop volley winner, but lost the set when the ball deflected off the edge of his racquet as he leaped to reach another Djokovic lob.
“Against Djokovic you have to go for the shot in every point,” Goffin said. “If you are not there for a few seconds you lose the game.”
In the second set, Goffin netted a backhand to hand Djokovic a break for a 4-3 edge and the world No. 1 held twice to triumph after two hours and five minutes.
Djokovic has reached the final in 19 of his past 21 events and in 11 consecutive ATP Masters Series events. He could win a record 28th ATP Masters crown, surpassing the mark he now shares with Rafael Nadal.
NISHIKORI ‘CONFIDENT’
Nishikori broke Kyrgios for a 2-1 edge and held from there, claiming the first set after 29 minutes when the Aussie double faulted away a break.
“My serve just let me down,” Kyrgios said. “I felt rushed out there. I was looking for answers. He was too good.”
After an early exchange of breaks, the second set was decided when Nishikori broke in the last game on a wild point. Nishikori raced to the net to save a ball off the net cord, Kyrgios fired back two tricky returns and Nishikori finally won with a crosscourt forehand volley.
“At the net I was very confident,” Nishikori said. “I thought I played a good point.”
Nishikori, who won his fourth consecutive Memphis title in February, reached his second ATP Masters final, the other coming in 2014 at Madrid.
“He is somebody that has been around and played so many matches on the big stage,” Djokovic said. “I do not see him being too overwhelmed or nervous.”
Kyrgios, at 20, is to become the youngest top-20 player since 2009 tomorrow.
Two-time Grand Slam champions Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia were set to meet in yesterday’s women’s final.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier