Reuters
Toronto, August 1: World No.1 Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of Kei Nishikori with a 6-3, 7-5 victory in the final of the Rogers Cup here Sunday. It was a nice warm-up for the man who will gun for the gold at the Rio Games in a few days time. With the win Djokovic won his 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and became the first player to win the Rogers Cup four times.
The 29-year-old Serb seized the opening set in just over 30 minutes, and then dug deep during a spirited back and forth in the final stages of the hard court match. Djokovic was bolstered by a strong service performance as he won 82 per cent of his first serve points and recorded five aces.
“I worked on it (with my coach),” Djokovic, who struggled on serve earlier in the tournament, said in a courtside interview. “I had to change something, I was not getting many of the free points (as I did today). It allowed me to be more aggressive.”
With the second set tied at 5-5 and the score at deuce, Djokovic won a pair of rallies to earn the decisive break. Djokovic put extra loft on a forehand to create an unforced error from Nishikori on game point, before triumphantly pointing at his head to illustrate his savvy. He served out to close the match.
Nishikori fought hard to stay in the final set but failed to prevent a ninth successive loss against the Serbian. “It was a shame to lose but this was my first time final here,” Nishikori told the Canadian crowd. “So, it was a great week.”
Djokovic, a 12-time Grand Slam champion, will now turn his focus to the Olympics, a tournament he has yet to conquer. He earned a bronze medal in singles at Beijing in 2008 and fell just short of a medal at London in 2012.
“I don’t need to explain that every athlete dreams of being a part of the Olympic Games,” he said. “I’m competing in singles and doubles. Hopefully I’ll get at least one medal.”
