Nishikori faces surprise finalist Andujar in Barcelona

BARCELONA, (Reuters) - Holder Kei Nishikori booked a place in the final of the Barcelona Open by sweeping past Slovak Martin Klizan 6-1 6-2 on Saturday.





The top-seeded Japanese next faces Pablo Andujar who scored a surprise 7-6 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard and number three seed David Ferrer.

Nishikori, ranked fifth in the world, was superior to Klizan throughout with his decision-making and execution.

"I am excited to be in the final again. Everything was perfect, the win and also the way I was playing," he told reporters.

"I tried to get a lot of spin on the clay but I also played some flat forehands and backhands so as to mix it up."

Nishikori is breaking new ground for Asian tennis. He is the highest-ranked Asian male in ATP Tour history and is the first to reach a grand slam final, at last year's U.S. Open.

He broke Klizan in his first two service games and while the Japanese began to relax towards the end of the first set he was still comfortably on top.

Klizan held on after a marathon first service game in the second set but Nishikori then eased his way to victory.

Ferrer had looked strong on the other side of the draw but an inspired Andujar hit a series of powerful groundstrokes after a slow start and volleyed well at the net.

World number eight Ferrer broke to go 2-0 up in the first set but his opponent, ranked 66th in the world, battled back to take the set to a tiebreak.

Ferrer fell apart at the start of the second set and Andujar cruised through.

"This is probably the best game I have played in my life as Ferrer is one of the best on clay in the world," he said.

"My game plan was to pressure his second serve and get to the net as much as I could. I played well and he started making mistakes."





(Reporting by Tim Hanlon, editing by Douglas Beattie)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world