The Miami Open men's singles tennis tournament got off to a rocky start, losing three of the of the world's top five tennis players within the first two rounds, and then fans watched second-ranked Andy Murray fall to Grigor Dimitrov in an upset in the round of 32. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic has not let tennis fans across the globe down in the Miami Open, though, as he is playing incredible tennis and has reached the Miami Open Finals with a straight sets win over 15th-ranked David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-4.
The star Serb is playing for a chance to tie Andre Agassi's record of six Miami Open titles, and he is looking to win his third consecutive Miami Open title, something that has not been done since Agassi won it in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The world's No. 1 player proved to be too much for Goffin on Friday, but he did not walk over the Belgian, as he pushed him, especially in the first set.
"He plays very clean," Djokovic said following the match. "It's a tennis that is beautiful to watch. Also, I think he improved his serve. I had difficulty reading it. It's not as powerful as maybe some other guys', but it's very precise and efficient. Also, he backs it up with a very efficient first shot after the serve. Physically, it was a great battle, with lots of exchanges from the baseline."
Djokovic is on an incredible pace in 2016, as he is 27-1 on the year, including his Finals win at the Australian Open. "Against Djokovic, you have to make every point," Goffin said. "You have to go for the shot on every point. He doesn't give you anything, so you have to win it. It's tough because if you are not there for a few seconds, you lose the game."
Djokovic will face Kei Nishikori in the Miami Open Finals Sunday after the world's sixth-ranked Japanese tennis star took down 26th-ranked Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. "It's going to be tough, for sure," Nishikori said when asked about his finals match against Djokovic. "He has been playing well. I hope I can play another good match."
Djokovic holds a 6-2 record over Nishikori and has won in their last five matches, including his most recent straight sets win over the Japanese star 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Nishikori's last win over the world's top-ranked tennis player came at the U.S. Open in 2014, when he beat him in four sets 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.
