Nishikori seeks revenge in Toronto final

01 Aug, 2016

Novak Djokovic and Japan's Kei Nishikori both powered through in straight sets on Saturday at the ATP Toronto Masters to set up a repeat of a high-profile spring final. Top seed Djokovic dismissed Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes, winning the 14th of his last 15 matches at Masters 1000 events.
Nishikori took advantage of a fade in form from Stan Wawrinka as Asia's top player reached the title match with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 win.
Third seed Nishikori lost to Djokovic for the title in Miami in early April.
"It's going to be interesting. I haven't beat Novak for a long time on hard court. In Miami he kind of dominated the game. So I hope I can get revenge this time," Nishikori said.
Djokovic found his game in perfect order as he stopped the victory run of tenth seeded Monfils.
"This was my best match of the week," said Djokovic, whose recent form has been patchy. "It came at the right time.
"Gael has been in terrific touch, winning Washington last week. He's won most of his matches here comfortably. I had to stick with it to win this one. "I'm very pleased with how I played." Djokovic had to save two break points in first service game, but after losing serve in the third game on a double fault, he recovered in the next game to level at 2-2.
The 29-year-old solidified a 4-2 lead from a love break of the fading Frenchman, and lined up three set points three games later. He converted on the first after 37 minutes.
Djokovic began the second set with a break of an error-prone opponent and was never threatened as he streaked to victory.
Swiss second seed Wawrinka's game went away during the tiebreaker, allowing Nishikori to move into his second Masters 1000 final of 2016.

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