Djokovic battles past Nishikori to reach the US Open 4th round

Novak Djokovic had to play his best tennis at the US Open yet to move to the 4th round which he did beating Kei Nishikori in 4 sets. The Serbian entered the match a bit slower than he would have liked falling behind early. He would battle back only to be bested in the tiebreak by Nishikori 7-4.

It's becoming a worrying trend for Djokovic who has lost more tiebreak this year than ever before. A good response by him followed as he upped his game significantly in the 2nd set. Djokovic took an early lead attacking Nishikori on his 2nd serve and was able to fend off several pushes by the Japanese to win it 6-3.

The 3rd set shaped up to be the crucial set for the entire match as Djokovic continued playing well taking an early break. Nishikori would battle back to break back the Serbian later in the set only to lose his serve in the very next game. Djokovic won that set with 6-3.

That result broke the willpower of Nishikori who continued to battle but Djokovic already established himself as the leading man and Nishikori could not muster the strength to change that. Djokovic closed out the final set with 6-2 sending himself ever closer to the calendar grand slam.