Novak Djokovic sealed his winning return to tennis a month after an early Wimbledon exit as he beat Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday at the Toronto Masters. The world number one claimed a fourth Canadian title with a victory in just under 90 minutes.
His previous match was a third-round disappointment on grass in London against Sam Querrey.
Djokovic finished off victory with 13 winners on his third match-point a game later with a service winner. He now heads to Rio to compete for Serbia.
“It’s gonna be a great honour and pleasure to be part of such a renowned and recognised sporting event,” he said. “The Olympics are really special. I will give my best to fight for a medal.”
“The overall sensation (of Rio) is not going to be the same as the other tournaments, because it’s Olympic Games. Of course you represent your country. You get to feel that you’re part of something much larger than just the tennis event. I look forward to that,” the Serb added.
Djokovic extended his lead atop the list of ATP Masters 1000 winners as he earned his 30th honour in the elite series. Rafael Nadal stands second with 28.
Djokovic claimed a seventh title of the season as he repeated his defeat of Japan’s Nishikori from the Miami final in April. He leads the series with the top Asian 10-2.
“I hope I can step it up a little more and win some titles, but I think still Novak is biggest challenge for me,” Nishikori said. “On hard court he’s been beating me, not easy but two sets (in) Miami, now here. I need more experience in these kind of matches. This was still a great week even though I lost. But I’m think getting closer and closer. So hope I can get a Masters title as soon as possible.”
The convincing Djokovic win followed up Saturday’s dispatch of Gael Monfils as the Serb lifted his level at the business end of the week. “That’s what I had to do, realise my performance,” Djokovic said. “At the start of the week I was not feeling that comfortable on the court.
But I made progress and gained in confidence at the right time.”
Djokovic has a solid first-serve percentage of 80 per cent and said he was proud that he was able to use his delivery to get out of trouble as Nishikori made a late-match charge. “I’m glad I had that weapon today,” Djokovic said. “Kei is one of the best returners on the circuit and a very fast guy — I had to serve well to win.”
Djokovic dominated the first 55 minutes of play before Nishikori rose up with a break-back in the sixth game of the second set for 3-all. The Japanese world number six led for the first time 4-3 before Djokovoic reined him in with a break for 6-5.
Halep downs erratic Keys for title
In Montreal, fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania took advantage of an error-prone display by American Madison Keys to claim her 14th WTA title with a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory in the Rogers Cup final. Halep, 24, won an erratic opening set that featured eight breaks of serve after breezing through the tiebreak, and then broke her 10th-seeded opponent again in the second game of the second to tighten her grip.
Keys was unable to break the Romanian in the concluding set and Halep served out to seal the win in one hour 16 minutes after the 21-year-old American dumped a forehand into the net. It was an especially sweet victory for Halep, who reached last year’s Rogers Cup final in Toronto against rising Swiss talent Belinda Bencic but had to retire in the third set due to a leg injury.
“It means a lot, it was really nice to win today,” Halep said. “I had, I can say, bad memories from last year that I had to finish the match and to stop it, so I am happy that I could win. I feel tired, I feel that I have no more power but it’s a nice feeling and I gave it everything to win this title.”
Halep improved her career record against Keys to 3-1, having beaten the American over three sets in their most recent meeting at Wimbledon earlier this month, and rose to third in yesterday’s latest world rankings.
The match was effectively decided in the first set tiebreak after both players had produced nervy, erratic tennis over the first 12 games. The big-serving Keys, who is also known for her powerful game from the baseline, made a string of unforced errors to gift Halep a 6-1 lead in the tiebreak before losing the opening set after hitting a backhand wide.
Halep never looked back, winning the first six points of the second set on her way to a third WTA title this year. “She hits very strong and it’s really tough to return her balls but I knew that I have to be strong on my legs,” counter-puncher Halep said of her strategy against Keys. “I tried, I just wanted to be a little bit aggressive but I couldn’t. In the end, I just wanted to be solid. I did it and it was a great win for me against her.”