05. 11. 2011. ·
Photo: Zdravko Stambolija
Nole will not play in the Swiss Indoors Basel final.
Despite a good start, the top seed was defeated 6-2, 6-7(4), 0-6, in the last four of the ATP World Tour 500 event by Japan’s wild card Kei Nishikori today.
The semi-final match featured 9 breaks of serve. Nole converted 4 of his 7 break point chances, while the Japanese youngster capitalised on 5 of his 7 opportunities.
Everything looked perfect at the beginning. Djokovic opened the match in confident fashion on his own serve. He raced to a 5-1 lead with a double break. Nishikori broke back once, but the 24-year-old put the pressure on the Japanese and took the set 6-2.
The world no.1 was broken in the fifth game of the second set, but he managed to fight back in the eighth to level at 4-all. The set went into a tie-breaker, Nishikori won it 7-4 in 71 minutes.
A right shoulder injury bothered Nole and affected his performance. Nishikori broke him three times in the deciding third set, sealing the victory in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
“The second set, he was playing great and was fighting… I have to give credit to my opponent, he was better,” said Novak. “I didn’t make the most of my opportunities.”
”I changed the technique of my serve a little bit. I was forcing it too much because of the injury I have. I’ve carried it since the US Open and I’m still afraid something is going to happen. My rhythm with the serve is not good right now.”
The Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion will head to Paris where the last ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in 2011 will be held next week. More…
“Recovering is what matters now. I don’t think in these conditions I will be able to train for the next couple of days. I’ll see what the team think.”
