Djokovic To Play Pouille In Australian Open Semi-finals

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic booked his place in the Australian Open for the seventh time on Wednesday night when Kei Nishikori retired due to injury in the second set.

Djokovic, a six-time former champion at Melbourne Park, was leading 6-1, 4-1 when eighth seed Nishikori called time on the match after 52 minutes of play. The Serbian will now contest his 34th Grand Slam championship semi-final against French No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille.

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Nishikori, with four hours more court time than Djokovic in his legs, immediately came under pressure in his first service game when Djokovic nailed a backhand winner down the line for break point. The Japanese star, with three five-set clashes under his belt in four rounds, then dumped a backhand into the net and soon Djokovic lead, rather ominously, 3-0. Once Djokovic broke again for a 5-1 advantage, Nishikori called for a trainer and as the 31-minute set ended, he received treatment for a right thigh complaint.

Djokovic won 16 of the first 17 points in the set and upon breaking for a 4-1 lead, Nishikori walked to the net to end the pair’s 18th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting (Djokovic now leads 16-2).

The 31-year-old Djokovic will remain at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings when the new lists are published on 28 January.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2R8QsRN