Nishikori Grinds Down Thiem In Rome

Kei Nishikori was at his best in a 6-3, 7-5 win over Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals of the Internazionale BNL d’Italia on Friday. The sixth seed, who has won all four sets played against the Austrian in two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings (Halle 2015), will face World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

“He is a tough opponent,” Nishikori said. “He hits very heavy on both wings. Great backhands. Not many weaknesses.

“It was really a battle of groundstrokes from the baseline. At the moment I’m playing really well. I returned well. I tried to stay because he has a great kick serve.”

Thiem, who upset World No. 2 Roger Federer in the third round, attempted to take over the match with his power. He raced to a 3-1 lead, but saw Nishikori win the next five games to claim the first set. Nishikori had not dropped a set this week in Rome since losing the first set against Viktor Troicki in his opening match.

Nishikori’s lone hiccup in the second set came while serving at 1-2. Down 0/40, the Japanese saved three break points to keep his 22-year-old opponent at bay. A late break proved to be the difference for Nishikori, who converted on his first match point to improve his 2016 clay-court record to 10-2 (29-8 overall). Thiem fired 21 winners in the 98-minute encounter, but made 39 unforced errors to drop to 32-10 on the year (16-5 on clay). Nishikori finished with 18 winners and 14 unforced errors.

“[My leg] is a bit sore but I’ll be okay. I will try to recover well tonight,” said Nishikori.

Djokovic, the top player in the Emirates ATP Rankings, leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Nishikori 8-2. Nishikori’s most recently victory over the Serb came in the 2014 US Open semi-finals.