‘Tired’ Nishikori takes positives out of Open despite loss

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic takes on third seed Stan Wawrinka in the US Open men’s singles final on Sunday.

But it was mostly one-way traffic as Djokovic stormed to final winning 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-2.

Wawrinka recovered from a slow start to secure a 4-6 7-5 6-4 6-2 triumph against the Japanese sixth seed Nishikori in NY.

And the Serb has won on all 12 occasions. To play against Novak again in the final is going to be something special.

“I was completely caught off guard when he just stood there and chipped the ball back and didn’t do much”, Djokovic explained.

He celebrates by pointing to his temple, a reminder that “sometimes I don’t find always myself comfortable on the court – I have to fight with myself”. “But that’s Gael”, Djokovic said.

“That’s really disappointing, especially second set”, Nishikori said.

Monfils, playing in only his second Grand Slam semi-final after making the last four at the 2008 French Open, theatrically hobbled off the court and was jeered.

Monfils then got hot all of a sudden and one five straight games to lead the third set 5-2.

Monfils claimed he was mixing up his tactics to try and counter Djokovic’s flying start.

Swiss player Wawrinka booked his spot against him by beating Japan’s Kei Nishikori 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. He’s very powerful, big serve – probably the best, most effective one-handed backhand in the world now.

“He started believing in himself”.

‘I think that’s all we were thinking about and feeling, ‘ he added. “I think it’s part of my career, the way I became a better player”.

“I won 10 in a row the last two years and before that I lost many”, he said. And past year, Djokovic saw his hopes of completing a career Slam ended in four sets by the Swiss in the Roland Garros final.

Djokovic vs Wawrinka: Do Wawrinka can stop Djokovic? But after rain forced the roof to shut midway through the third set Friday, it was Wawrinka who would go on to break in the final game – just as he did in the second set.

The two-time major victor Wawrinka managed a break in the fourth game of the second set. Wawrinka won that match in four sets.

Or will #Wawrinka go 3-0 in Slam finals? He loves to come up with a variety in his game, and the defense shots. “Final, semifinal, and I had matches to get confidence to play well match after match”, Wawrinka said. “As Wawrinka told The Daily Telegraph before last year’s Wimbledon “[I am] the only player who can really push him back, make him feel uncomfortable”.

“He was struggling with some injury problems before the tournament, so it helped him to be a little bit better, but also it didn’t give him so much match time”.

“Thankfully it’s behind me, so I don’t have any concerns”, said Djokovic, who has defeated Wawrinka twice in NY, in the round of 16 in 2012 and from two sets to one down in the 2013 semi-finals.

“I’ve watched the finals here so many times – Roger [Federer], Novak, Rafa [Nadal] – they are fantastic champions”.