Nishikori predicts Wimbledon ‘war’ with Djokovic
LONDON: Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man in 23 years to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Monday and then predicted a “war” with Novak Djokovic to get to the last four.
Nishikori, 28, overcame an arm injury to reach his first All England Club quarter-final with a 4- 6, 7- 6 (7/5), 7- 6 (12/10), 6-1 win over Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
But having become the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995, Nishikori must now overturn a 13-2 career losing record against three-time champion Djokovic on Wednesday.
“He’s always like a big war for me. I always enjoy playing against him. It’s always big challenge,” said Nishikori.
The Japanese player has already lost twice to the former world number one this year – on clay in Madrid and Rome.
Although the two have never met on grass, Nishikori is still hamstrung by the knowledge that the last of his two wins against the Serb was in 2014 in a memorable semi- final victory at the US Open.
“Maybe I don’t have good results or good record with him, but I always enjoy playing him.
“He’s one of the best players on the tour.”
Adding to Nishikori’s problems is a worrying right arm injury which required extensive treatment and a medical time-out in his win over world 130 Gulbis, the man who had
He’s always like a big war for me. I always enjoy playing against him. It’s always big challenge. Kei Nishikori
put out fourth seed Alezander Zverev in the third round.
“My elbow was bothering me little bit,” admitted Nishikori.
“From the second, it got better and I just tried to stay calm and fight every game.”
Djokovic, meanwhile, reached the quarter-finals for the 10th time with a 6- 4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Seeded 12, Wednesday wil l Djokovic’s 41st appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final.
His match against Nishikori will fall on the first anniversary of him having to retire from his 2017 quarter-final against Tomas Berdcyh with an elbow injury.
That precipitated a lengthy absence from the tour and a worrying dip in form and confidence.
However, the 31- year- old has looked back to something app r o ach i ng h i s b e s t a t Wimbledon.
“I like my chances against Nishikori,” said Djokovic. — AFP