Article contentSince then it has been one-way traffic in the rivalry with Djokovic sweeping 17 straight contests against the Japanese player, improving his head-to-head record to 18-2. A tight opening set was snatched by Nishikori in a tiebreak before Djokovic began to settle into the contest, breaking the Japanese player twice in the second on his way to leveling the match at a set apiece. In another workmanlike effort, the top seed took the decisive break in the third to go ahead 5-3 then held serve for a 2-1 lead. Now in control, Djokovic would leave Nishikori no openings to hope for a comeback, storming through the last four games of the fourth set to close out the contest in style. Djokovic now awaits the winner of the match between U.S. wildcard Jenson Brooksby and Russian Aslan Karatsev.

Source: National Post September 04, 2021 21:56 UTC