Australian Open: Djokovic after demolition victory over Nishikori in the semi-finals
The top seeded Serb benefited in the quarter-finals 6: 1, 4: 1 from the task of the Japanese, who had made up two sets of 0: 2 in the previous tournament. The former US Open finalist Nishikori (No. 8) suffered from muscle problems in the right thigh.
by Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
last edit: Jan 23, 2019, 11:09 am
After 51 minutes he was unable to continue playing and crept disappointed from the center court of the Rod Laver Arena. "I hope it's nothing serious and Kei is recovering quickly. It's always a shame if you can't play a full match," said "Nole".
Six-time "Happy Slam" winner Djokovic will meet Frenchman Lucas Pouille (No. 28) in the final round on Friday, and Zverev's conqueror Milos Raonic from Canada (No. 16) with 7: 6 (4), 6: 3, 6: 7 (2), 6: 4 down.
Rafael Nadal (Spain / No. 2) and Greek starter Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 14), who had surprisingly eliminated defending champion Roger Federer (Switzerland / No. 3) in the second round, already faced each other in the parallel match on Thursday evening.
Djokovic is now in his 34th Grand Slam semi-final - only major record winner Federer is in this statistic with 43 semifinals before the 31-year-old election Monegasque.
Two days after his hard-fought four-set victory over the Russian Daniil Medvedev, the Serbian industry leader was very well recovered.
Nishikori, however, after his special shifts in the past few days less. After a break and only ten minutes, the 29-year-old was already 0: 3 behind. Until then he had only won five out of 19 points played.
The otherwise strong Nishikori had nothing to oppose Djokovic's dominant baseline game. The 2018 New York semi-finalist looked exhausted and tired. After the smooth loss of the first set after 31 minutes, he had a physio come onto the court, which bandaged his thigh thickly.
After that Nishikori brought his serve through, but after another break to 1: 2 he gave up.