Novak in Madrid semis, Nishikori withdraws

World No.2 Novak Djokovic is through to the Madrid Open semi-finals after Kei Nishikori's withdrawal before their last-eight showdown because of a wrist injury.

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal (pic) has thrashed Nick Kyrgios in their Madrid Open third-round clash. (AAP)

Defending champion Novak Djokovic has moved into the Madrid Open semi-finals, with Kei Nishikori withdrawing before Friday's match because of a wrist injury.

The sixth-seeded Nishikori said his wrist was "not 100 per cent" and he didn't "want to risk" a more-serious injury.

"I don't want to go too hard on my wrist," the Japanese player said. "I want to get back to 100 per cent. I want to fight again in every match."

Nishikori, who beat world No.2 Djokovic in the 2014 US Open semi-finals, was playing in his first tournament since March. The Japanese player had withdrawn from the Barcelona Open last month because of lingering wrist injury inflammation.

A finalist in Madrid in 2014, Nishikori had lost his past 10 matches against Djokovic, including last year's semi-finals in Madrid.

Nishikori said he would "take a couple of days off" and try to recover in time to play next week in Rome ahead of the French Open.

"I will plan to play Rome, but we'll see," he said. "I cannot promise to play or pull out right now. But the French is more important. We'll see in the next couple of days."

Djokovic will play Rafael Nadal or ninth-seeded David Goffin in the semi-finals.

Djokovic hasn't played in the semis of any event since winning the Doha title at the beginning of the year. He lost to Goffin in the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo, his first claycourt tournament of the season.

Djokovic had to withdraw from the Miami Open because of an elbow injury.


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Source: AAP



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