Nishikori Creates Record; Beats Djokovic

Japan＊s Kei Nishikori etched his name in the record books by becoming the first Asian man to reach the Grand Slam final 每 pre or post Open Era. The 10th seeded Nishikori beat the World Number 1 Novak Djokovic in 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) 6-3 to book a place in the final of the US Open.

"I don't know what's going on," said Nishikori after beating Djokovic. Nishikori played two back-to-back five set matches earlier but looked fresh in probably the biggest match of his career.

Nishikori took the advantage in the seventh game of the first set where he broke Djokovic and then held his serves to pocket the first set 6-4. In the second set, Djokovic found his bearings and outclassed the Japanese to win the second set 6-1. Djokovic won six straight games in the second set and there was a drastic momentum shift with Djokovic carrying the advantage in the third set.

Djokovic failed to hold his serves in the eighth game and conceded the advantage to Nishikori. The enormity of the occasion got to the Japanese who committed a double fault with a break point down immediately in the next game. The third set went into a tie break. The highlight of the tie-break was double fault committed by Djokovic with 4-5 down which handed two set points to Nishikori.

The wheels were coming off for Djokovic who lost the first game of the fourth set. Nishikori held his serves and nerves to create history.

It was close to 4 am in the morning in Japan when Nishikori won. The sun will shine brightly in the Land of Rising Sun on Sunday morning. History has been made.