Novak Djokovic will continue his bid for a second Masters 1000 title in as many weeks when he takes the court against Kei Nishikori on Saturday. Andy Murray and Lucas Pouille are also part of the semifinal schedule.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) Kei Nishikori
Djokovic and Nishikori will be facing each other for the 110th time in their careers, for the fourth time already this season, and for the second time in as many weeks when they meet again in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 8-2 in favor of the top-ranked Serb, who dropped two of their first three encounters before reeling off seven wins in a row. Djokovic has taken 10 consecutive sets from Nishikori dating back to the third set of their 2015 Rome showdown, and he most recently prevailed 6-3, 7-6(4) seven days ago in Madrid.
The No. 1 seed has not been at his best in Rome, but he scraped past qualifier Stephane Robert 7-5, 7-5, recovered from a shocking bagel at the hands of Thomaz Bellucci to survive 0-6, 6-2, 6-3, and took down Rafael Nadal 7-5, 7-6(4) during quarterfinal action on Friday. Djokovic is 36-2 for his 2016 campaign with Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid. Nishikori gave himself another shot at Djokovic by beating Viktor Troicki, Richard Gasquet, and Dominic Thiem, surrendering only one set to Troicki in the process. The world No. 6 is in stellar form this season, but he has been playing a lot of recent tennis and did not look 100 percent physically against either Troicki or Thiem. Another straight-set victory for Djokovic is not quite a certainty, but it’s close.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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(LL) Lucas Pouille vs. (2) Andy Murray
Has anyone in Masters 1000 history enjoyed a more fortuitous route to a semifinal than Pouille? Probably not. The 22-year-old Frenchman lost to Mikhail Kukushkin in the final round of qualifying but ended up getting a lucky-loser spot in the main draw. Because the withdrawal came from No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had a bye, Pouille sailed straight into the second round. He promptly picked up wins over an ice-cold Ernests Gulbis and a rusty David Ferrer before the luck continued in the form of a walkover from Juan Monaco on Friday. Up to No. 52 in the word, Pouille owns 14 of his 29 career ATP-level match victories in 2016.
Up next for the underdog if a first-ever meeting with Murray, who has become a well-respected force on clay and is in especially impressive form on the red stuff at the moment. The third-ranked Scot is coming off a runner-up performance in Madrid and so far this week he has dismissed Kukushkin, Jeremy Chardy, and David Goffin without dropping set. This is a massive step up in competition–even from Ferrer–for Pouille, who has faced top-five opponents only twice in his career (straight-set losses to Nadal and Roger Federer).
Pick: Murray in 2 losing 7 games or fewer
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Novak loses sets to belluci and nishikori and struggles mightily against robert but wins in straights vs rAfa?
Vmk, you forgot that Nole also got bageled by Bellucci. 🙂
NOVAK seemed helpless in the first set… he is wakened up again and get control os the match….
Hope Andy can beat Novak tomorrow…my best wishes
Kei breaks back!!
Good 3rd set!
Huge match point saved by Kei! Nole thought he had him. Still don’t think Kei will win but that was a show of strength holding serve at 5-5.
Kei wth an awesome saving of MP. Looks like Novak is gonna hold for 6-5 but still awesome effort from Nishikori. The level has really raised in the third set. Kei with some amazing backhands in this decider. Novak with some amazing shots as well.
This has been a great match! Nishi coming back from being a break down was good stuff!
He’s fighting!
*1-0 Nishikori
1-1
2-1* Nishikori
3-1* Nishikori
*3-2 Nishikori
3-3
*4-3 Djokovic
*5-3 Djokovic
6-3* Djokovic
6-4* Djokovic
*6-5 Djokovic
I hope that Nishi can hold.
1-1
Traded minibreaks.
2-1 Nishi
Wow! Novak missed and it’s 3-1 Nishi.
3-3
This is unbelievable!
5-3 Novak
Match point for Novak
Nishi still battling
6-4 Novak
Holy crap!
6-6
Wrong with the score in my last post!
Novak wins
This is killing me! In a good way. Both these guys are incredible. OH snap. I was hoping Kei would win. But Nole gets it. He had to fight another day.
Exactly what I demanded ! LOL
Murray will win now I think
Lol!
Two tough matches for Novak!
Will that be enough for Murray to get the win?
I definitely pick Andy ftw.
Djoko defeated rafa with one day less rest after a marathon against murray in another marathon. Best we can hope is for murray to take a setp
I was behind in posting the scores, while Ricky was already doing it.
I should sometimes leave well enough alone. I was too frazzled watching the match and trying to post the scores.
Nishikori has the right stuff,too bad about the double fault.Novak was playing well today.Either one could win the French Open.
Fantastic match with lots of intensity and highlights and great shots but Kei up 3-1 kinda just tanked lots of those next points that wa a pretty disappointing. Like he lost the lead so fast. Fended off two MPs well though. And just missed that return at top of net. Well now Nole will probably beat Andy. Form wise he shouldn’t though but it’s Novak vs andy so it’ll probably be yet another title for Nole.
Bull etcetera