The world number 1 Novak Djokovic had a pretty easy way to the Australian Open semi-finals in 2019 after his opponent Kei Nishikori had no physical strength to resist and gave up after 1:6, 1:4 and only 49 minutes on the court.
In a dispute over a place in the final, Djokovic will have a strange opponent at such a high level - Lucas Pouille, who previously eliminated with 7:6 (4), 6:3, 6:7 (2), 6:4for the first time in his career he has reached the penultimate stage of a Grand Slam tournament. Nole and the 24-year-old Frenchman will be on the court at 10:30 on Friday. The other semifinal is between Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
For the short time he played against Djokovic, Nishikori made a total of 28 unintentional mistakes, and from the outset it was obvious he was not in optimal condition. He still won the title in Brisbane and had a rather troublesome path to the quarterfinals, including two five-time wins, the last of which over Pablo Carreno Busta in the previous phase was achieved in over 5 hours.
The Japanese did not move well enough from the first game analyzed by football predictions and tried to compensate for more aggression and risk taking, but that only led to the wrong balls. Whether he was trying to change the direction or just stay in it, most of Nishikori`s rocket did not find the outline of the court.
Djokovic did not have any trouble dominating the races even after his famously good reprise, recording the 14 winners and making only 9 mistakes. His service was also far more effective as he earned 85% of the first round and Japan`s statistics were only 48%. The second difference was even greater - 89% vs. 36%. Nishikori`s unusual posture attitude made him helpless when Nolle was serving his backhand, and in general even by forehand he did not create problems for the opponent.
Between the first and the second set, the Japanese took advantage of a medical time-out and his right thigh was treated by the physiotherapist, who put him in a tight-fitting dressing. With four of his mistakes, however, Nishikori allowed a zero break for 1:2, and Djokovic`s second break was followed by the quit and the premature end of the match.
