Kei Nishikori beat Jeremy Chardy for the sixth consecutive time on Saturday to reach his second Brisbane International final 6-2, 6-2. The second seed rushed the big-hitting Frenchman, who never looked comfortable against Nishikori’s attacking style, hitting 26 unforced errors to only eight from Nishikori.

Chardy’s serve and free-swinging forehand carried him to his second semi-final since June, a run that included a three-set win against 2018 champion Nick Kyrgios. But Nishikori absorbed the Frenchman’s pace and retrieved everything Chardy threw back. Nishikori broke in the fifth and seventh game in the opener, and followed the same pattern to advance in just over an hour.

The Japanese right-hander will play either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France or Russian Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final. Nishikori has lost nine straight ATP Tour finals and has played 51 events since his 11^th and most recent trophy in Memphis in 2016 (d. Fritz).

He leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Tsonga 5-3. Nishikori and Medvedev split their two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, with the Russian winning their most recent contest last year in the Tokyo final.

From last May through the end of the 2018 season, Ivo Karlovic managed to earn just two tour-level wins. His struggles forced him to compete on the ATP Challenger Tour towards the end of the year to try to remain inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings. He is currently World No. 100.

But it’s a new year, and the 39-year-old has wasted no time showing that he has plenty of good form left. Karlovic has made history this week in Pune, putting his name in the record books en route to the final at the Tata Open Maharashtra.

“It’s unbelievable. I didn’t expect it at all,” Karlovic told ATPTour.com. “Coming here I was hoping I could win a round or two. That would have been unbelievable. It’s incredible.”

By making the semi-finals, Karlovic became the oldest player to reach the last four at a tour-level event since 40-year-old Jimmy Connors at San Francisco in 1993. And now that he’s in the championship match, the Croat is the oldest player to advance to a tour-level final since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall triumphed in Hong Kong in 1977.

“Obviously he was one of the greatest. To be even mentioned in the same category as him, it’s incredible,” Karlovic said.

The former World No. 14 is projected to return to the Top 70 in the ATP Rankings on Monday regardless of whether or not he beats top seed Kevin Anderson in Saturday’s final. But if Karlovic lifts his first ATP Tour trophy since Los Cabos in 2016, he can climb back into the Top 60.

One may wonder, how is Karlovic playing so well when he is less than two months away from turning 40 years old? He has finished between No. 20 and No. 101 in the year-end ATP Rankings for 16 consecutive seasons.

“It helped that I didn’t reach the Top 100 at a really young age. I was 24, so I don’t feel like I’ve been doing this a long, long time. I have been, but it’s a different feeling,” Karlovic said. “I also try to do a lot of exercises to stay without injuries.”

According to former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert, “Dr. Ivo” has a gamestyle that allows him to maintain a certain level of consistency. It doesn’t hurt that the Croat is the ATP Tour’s all-time aces leader. This week, Karlovic became the first player to hit 13,000 aces.

“The serve and volley is almost dead these days but Dr. Ivo uses it to his advantage. His game is almost ageless,” Gilbert told ATPTour.com. “He plays with a great sense of calmness and doesn’t get too high or low. He plays with clarity and serves and volleys all the time, no matter what surface he plays on, which is difficult to do.

“He’s kept himself remarkably fit and he plays so economically. It’s almost like he plays doubles, playing singles. Guys 45 are playing doubles well and he’s doing the same at his age in singles… What is most impressive about him in these long three-set matches is that he sustains his serving power and doesn’t drop off. He’s been remarkably healthy throughout most of his career. He’s like Nolan Ryan, who was a power pitcher in his 40s. Ivo is still bringing the heat and he’s going to be 40 next month.”

And while Karlovic will be focused on trying to win his ninth ATP Tour crown on Saturday, his success shows that the 39-year-old has plenty of game left in him.

Did You Know?
The Pune final between Karlovic (6’11”, 2.11m) and Anderson (6’8″, 2.03m) will be the tallest championship match in the Open Era (since 1968). The previous tallest final was in Atlanta in 2013, when John Isner (6’10”, 2.08m) defeated Anderson in a third-set tie-break.

Novak Djokovic was on the doorstep of victory in the semi-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, leading Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 4-3, with a break in the second set. But the Spaniard mounted a spirited comeback to upset the top seed 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.

Nobody ever wants to lose, especially when victory is within reach. But Djokovic gave all credit to Bautista Agut, who will play Tomas Berdych for the title on Saturday.

“I want to congratulate him,” Djokovic said. “Especially in the third set he played well. I thought he was hitting the ball very clean and not making a lot of errors.”

One can dig deep into a match to analyse why one player wins and another loses. Bautista Agut maintained unrelenting pressure throughout the match, making few mistakes against the Serbian to earn his second victory against a World No. 1 (def. Djokovic, 2016 Shanghai). But Djokovic does not want to dwell on his loss. After all, he has still won 29 of his past 32 matches.

“I lost the match. That’s it. He managed to turn things around, obviously at the end of the second set. I thought I was pretty much in control of the match,” Djokovic said. “He played a good game. I missed some easy balls and that’s what you get as a result of losing the focus in the most important moments. And it happens, it happens.”

A loss is a loss, but there are still positives for Djokovic to leave Doha with. He was able to spend 11 hours and four minutes on court in his first tournament of the year, which includes his run to the doubles semi-finals with brother Marko Djokovic.

“This is what I was looking forward to, to get from this tournament, as many matches as possible, to get ready for the Australian Open. So I’m very pleased,” Djokovic said. “Obviously, I’m not pleased that I lost the match today, but I lost to a better player in the end and I have to turn the next page.”

One might wonder if Djokovic’s efforts on the doubles court affected his singles play. But the 72-time tour-level titlist said that is not the case. Djokovic enjoyed playing with his brother, and believes that the reason he lost to Bautista Agut was simple, and it has nothing to do with doubles.

“I was very close to winning the match. A few points decided the winner,” Djokovic said. “He was the one.”

The World No. 1 may be disappointed to not advance to the final, but the loss will not change his mindset moving forward. Djokovic’s next tournament is the Australian Open, where he has triumphed six times. And to nobody’s surprise, the goal he is striving for in Melbourne remains the same.

“A trophy.”