In Australian Open 2019, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori men’s quarter-final to book himself a spot in the last 4. The Serbian tennis professional was leading 6-1, 4-1 when Nishikori retired from the match. Immediately after Djokovic won the first set 6-1, Nishikori looked in severe pain and was seen getting medical attention. While he managed to continue playing in the second set, he was clearly struggling against Djokovic - who is one of the favourites to win the Australian Open title. With the win, Djokovic also extended his head-to-head win-loss record against Nishikori to 16-2.
On Thursday, After Eleven years, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the 2008 Australian Open, top seed Novak Djokovic bested the Frenchman again at Melbourne Park to reach the third round early. The world number one Serb claimed a clinical 6-3 7-5 6-4 win over wildcard entry Tsonga in the late match at Rod Laver Arena. While Djokovic is seeking a third successive Grand Slam title, Tsonga has been on a different trajectory, with his ranking slipping to 177 after his 2018 season was cut short by a knee injury in April.
He said that “Even after a few sets he was serving still really well, and there was, yeah, too many aces and (it was) frustrating, too, you know, for my side,”. “I (would) rather do three sets, but today he was playing well, and the first match, too, the guy was playing really solid. I could (have) lost these two matches. So yeah, I just need to recover well. But, I mean, it’s only two matches, so I’m not too tired yet.”
Whereas, The gap between the players’ standing was on full show as Djokovic cruised to victory in two hours and four minutes, setting up a mouthwatering intergenerational clash with Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. Kei Nishikori made another great escape at the Australian Open on Thursday, surviving a second five-set battle and 59 aces from Ivo Karlovic to squeeze into the third round. Against Karlovic, however, Nishikori squandered a two-set lead before closing out a tense tie-break to prevail 6-3 7-6(6) 5-7 5-7 7-6(7) on a sweltering day at Margaret Court Arena.
A three-time quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park, Nishikori will hope to ride the wave of support from the army of travelling Japanese fans who chanted his name throughout the Karlovic match.
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