It would take Kei Nishikori almost an hour to grab a lead in his semifinal match at the Rogers Cup against Stan Wawrinka, but once he got his nose ahead, he never looked back, blowing past the second seed to reach his second Masters 1000 event final of the year, topping his Swiss opponent with a dramatic 7-6(6), 6-1 victory.
Wawrinka can’t put Nishikori away, drops opener in tiebreak
The second seed picked up where he left off after his dominant quarterfinal win, pouring the pressure on Nishikori early on. In the fourth game, he had his first chance to break but pushed his backhand wide. However, a run of unforced errors in the same game by the Japanese gifted the early break to Wawrinka. The Swiss would hold to stretch the lead to 4-1.
Nishikori started to claw his way back, holding a pair of break points in his next return game, both of which Wawrinka erased with big serves. Serving for the set at 5-3, the Swiss blinked, falling behind 0-40 and missing a backhand on the second to give Nishikori the break back. When the Japanese served to stay in the set at 5-6, Wawrinka had another chance to put his opponent away, bringing up double break and set point at 5-6, 15-40. But Nishikori saved both, the second with an ace, and forced a tiebreak.
Much like the set itself, Wawrinka had multiple leads and chances to finish off Nishikori in the tiebreak. A forehand winner up the line gave the Swiss a minibreak at 2-1, but a forehand error gave the minibreak right back. A double fault from Nishikori gave the second seed a 4-2 lead, but he again allowed his opponent to equalise at 4-4. He would race ahead to a 6-4 lead, two more set points, only to lose both, giving the second away with a double fault. Nishikori would take his first lead of the set at 7-6 in the breaker when Wawrinka sent a backhand long and the Japanese, after surviving four set points, converted his first to take the opener.
Nishikori cruises into final
After missing so many chances in the opening set, Wawrinka seemed to be a broken man in the second. Errors were flying off the Swiss’ racquet and he gave up a break in his first service game. Serving a 0-3, deuce, Wawrinka had a chance to put the point away when Nishikori’s shot popped up, barely clearing the net. The Japanese gave up on the point and simply stood in the centre of the court waiting for Wawrinka to put the ball away. But the Swiss would miss the routine shot well wide to give Nishikori a break point. A stunned Wawrinka stood at the net, putting his head down on the net before pulling his shirt over his head as he walked back to the baseline. Nishikori would convert the break point for a double break.
Two breaks was plenty for Nishikori, as he would hold his last two games easily to book his place in his second Masters 1000 final of the year, taking the deciding set 6-1 to wrap up the surprising comeback victory in just under an hour and a half.
By the numbers
After a strong start, Wawrinka struggled on serve throughout the match, only putting 44 percent of his first serve points in play. That low percent was extremely costly against a strong returner like Nishikori, who won 50 percent of his opponents second serve points. Even when he got his first serve in, the Swiss still struggled, only winning 59 percent of those points. Nishikori was far better on serve, winning 72 percent of his first serve points and 62 percent of his second serve points. He saved three of the four break points he faced, while Wawrinka saved six of nine.
Nishikori awaits the winner between Gael Monfils and Novak Djokovic in the final.
