Nishikori beats Ferrer to set up Djokovic showdown in Madrid

“It’s a huge win, for sure. I feel that the altitude is helping me also”. At present, he is ready to play against Fabio Fognini in the second round first match. “I have noticed it from the beginning”.

Djokovic, who has refused to rule out appointing Andre Agassi as coach, prowled around the court and had the bit between his teeth as he stayed in the hunt for only a second title of the year with the French Open on the horizon.

He’s won ten straight, lost just one set in that time and now has an all-time record of 51 claycourt titles, which may well become 52 by week’s end.

The 30-year-old Russian last played in the Wimbledon warm-up event in 2010.

Tsonga required three sets to overcome qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov on Monday and he was unable to take to the court for his second-round match against David Ferrer a day later.

― Reuters picMADRID, May 13 ― Rafael Nadal insisted the furore caused by Novak Djokovic’s dip in form over the past year has been overblown as he prepares to face the Serb for the 50th time.

Fognini had three career wins over Nadal, including one in the 2015 U.S. Open, but had lost the last three in straight sets.

The victory was the Canadian’s second win in four matches against the 26th-ranked Muller.

In a pretty entertaining encounter, Novak Djokovic admitted that beating Feliciano Lopez in a stadium full of home supporters was a whole different “game”.

“Goffin and I played at a really high level”, said Nadal, still undefeated this year on clay. ‘I want to get back to 100 percent.

The Madrid Open started their rivalry, with the Spanish crowd witnessing an engrossing semi-final in 2009 lasting over four hours which Nadal won after saving three match points. Bet: the victory of Rafael Nadal. Right from the start I made very few errors, ” said the Spaniard. “It was a big step forward”.

David Goffin is also through to the last eight after defeating world No. 6 Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-2.

The other quarterfinal will be played between Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who defeated Benoit Paire of France 7-5, 0-6, 6-1, and Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4.

“I think that I’m in a good place”, he said.

Grigor Dimitrov, who broke into the top 10 during a breakthrough season in 2014, had found it tough to push on from that success.

Halep faces Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in today’s semi-finals after the world No. 22 saw off Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Romanian holder Simona Halep beat Australian Samantha Stosur 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.