Kei Nishikori will meet Novak Djokovic, bidding to capture a sixth title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, on Saturday in the semi-finals. It will be the pair’s sixth meeting in 2016 and their 13th FedEx ATP Head2Head clash overall (Djokovic leads 10-2).
Nishikori completed Group John McEnroe with a 1-2 record, having lost to Marin Cilic, who finishes the season at a year-end No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory was Cilic’s first win in his sixth match at the season finale (also 2014), at The O2 in London.
“I just tried to focus today's match,” said Nishikori. “Unfortunately, it was a tough loss. But hope I can play better tomorrow. I will try to think tonight or tomorrow what I have to do to beat Djoko. I mean, I’m obviously not playing bad.”
Prior to the match, Nishikori was already assured of his spot in the semi-finals for the second time in three years. On Saturday, he will contest a re-match against Djokovic of their 2014 semi-final, which was watched by 10 million people on TV Asahi in Japan.
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Nishikori broke to 30 in the third game, then again to 15 in the ninth game to wrap up the 37-minute opener. He lost just six points on his serve and hit eight winners. Cilic won four straight games from 1-1 in the second set, as Nishikori committed 15 unforced errors. The decider was competitive, but Cilic secured a crucial break at 2-2, with Nishikori serving at 30/40, when he fired a backhand return winner down the line. The Croatian, who hit 16 aces in total, was not to be denied his 48th match win of the year.
It was Cilic’s third straight win over Nishikori, including victories at Wimbledon and the Swiss Indoors Basel this year. He will now travel to Zagreb to compete for Croatia in next week’s Davis Cup final against Argentina.
"I definitely want to go get to the Top 5 next year," admitted Cilic. "I was mentioning my goal is to win a Grand Slam. I feel I'm on a very good level. I'm very competitive with all of the guys... Definitely my mindset is very strong and very positive. I can't be happier than to obviously get to this position, the way I played the last few months.