• ATP Tour

Nishikori stuns Djokovic in Basel

ESPN staff
November 5, 2011
Novak Djokovic suffered only his fourth defeat of the year in Basel © Getty Images
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Novak Djokovic was dumped out of the Swiss Indoors in Basel after suffering only his fourth defeat of the year, surrendering in three sets to Kei Nishikori.

The world No. 1, playing in his first tournament after a six-week lay-off with a back injury, looked rusty as he needed three sets to navigate his way past Xavier Malisse and Marcos Baghdatis in the early rounds.

But the Serb looked to be firmly on course for victory, and a potential final showdown with Roger Federer, when he wrapped up the opening set, but he received treatment for a shoulder injury - the same injury that saw him retire from the Cincinnati final against Andy Murray back in August.

Djokovic had his chances to put the match to bed, but Nishikori showed impressive grit to win the second set on a tiebreak and force the match to a decider, before reeling through six straight games to bagel his opponent in the final set to secure a 2-6 7-6(4) 6-0 victory.

Next up for Nishikori is defending champion Federer, who won his all-Swiss semi-final against Stanislas Wawrinka. The former world No. 1 is just won win away from a record fifth title in his home event after beating his sometime doubles partner 7-6(5) 6-2.

Wawrinka, who won Olympic doubles gold with Federer in Beijing in 2008, gave Federer a run for his money as the opening set went to a tiebreak, but the third seed tightened his grip with an early break in the second set to close in on a place in the final.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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