Nadal thrashes Nishikori to set up semifinal clash with Federer

Nice work Kei!

I just watched the first two sets, Nadal was in the mood. Impossible to do anything, the guy has only lost twoce at Rolland Garros in all his career!

A dream pairing for semis, even if I am a Federer fan, I think it will go Nadal's way. But both of these guys know how to raise their game in important moments, so you never know. Even is Zverev has had a bad season, he can play some great tennis, so I hope he will put up a good fight. My prediction is Nadal-Djokovic in the final, impossible to tell but maybe Djokovic will prevail? He has had a tremendous season, Nadal has been shakier.

Nice work Kei!

He lost badly, by the way.

The unfortunate thing about this tournament is that it taught us absolutely nothing new. Nishikori played to his seed - he beat everyone he should've beaten, and lost to the first person he should've lost to. So:

-He's still a good but not great player

-He is still capable of showing tenacity and athleticism and putting on very entertaining matches

-He is still utterly outclassed by the top tier of players in the world

-He still lacks the balls to win a title of any significance for the entire duration of his career

-He still leaves us debating whether he's a hero for coming out on top of gruelling 5-setters, or a chump for allowing them to happen to unseeded players in the first placeq

So, nothing new. Loss to Rafa in Paris is understandable. Loss at 1, 1, and 3 is less understandable. Inability to seemingly ever muster a win against the top tier of players is continued evidence that the gap between 1 and 7 is much, much, much larger than those numbers indicate

I am really disappointed.

The Original Wing,

Your analysis is very uncourageous yet fair. The match Kei Nishikori produced yesterday again validated John McEnroe statement, "He gives in mentally," after Nishikori retired from his semi-final encounter with Djokovic in the Australian Open this year.

Hung Nguyen, if you're looking for courageousness, please refer to Ganbare Japan's good feeling from yesterday about this being Nishikori's time against Nadal. I'm more interested in objectivity than boldness.

Need some big change. Kei. Maybe hard but time to say goodbye to Ako-chan

The Original Wing,

In the tennis world, I do not believe that the levels and techniques of certain individuals would be the same for ever. We have seen how Wawrinka reached to the same level of the three living legends Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in the twilight of his career. I also believe that once Nishikori does not "give in mentally," he has the potential to beat anyone in any grand slam.

Ganbare Japan: "I am really disappointed."

Ah, well. Bandwagon fans often are.

Had a co-worker talking about this game today, which surprised me since usually he's quiet when Nishikori loses, and he pulled out the "Nishikori was tired" excuse. I laughed. The best, though, was that I didn't need to say anything, the guy at reception overheard and said, "Nishikori is always tired."