If nishikori had a strong first serve, he could have given tough fights to the top players in grand slams...he is very exciting to watch who always takes the ball early..reminds me of davydenko
Except he's even more talented than Davydenko. Both are similar in that they could hit the ball early, but Nishikori put more spin and had more variety. I wish he had a strong serve, but it's actually pretty decent for his physique and the speed of the serve. His placement is pretty good. His slice serve is decent I think
I watched this match live. Federer was honestly playing some great tennis for the first time in a long time in the beginning of 2014 season, after a disastrous 2013 season, and the commentators were talking about how newly improved Federer's backhand was after he switched to a larger racket (prostaff 97) for the first time in his career, winning Dubai 2014 (beating Djokovic in the semi) and then reaching Indian Wells 2014 final only to lose to Djokovic. But Nishikori just started elevating his level all of a sudden in the second set and was flying all over the court with his sick two-handed backhand. Nishikori played amazing tennis in 2014, losing to Rafa in 3 super-tight sets at the AO and reaching the US open final (beating Djoko in the semi) only to lose to Cilic. I thought Nishikori deserved that US open 2014 title more than Cilic.
Kei is a great athlete & underrated. This match is a great one to watch. Roger lost but you can see that he relished the challenge that Kei brought to this match. Thanks for giving us another look at this game. Great match.
Nishikori is easily one of the best players who should've won at least a slam. He deserved the 2014 US open title just as much as Cilic, if not more. Federer was fatigued in his match against Cilic at the 2014 US open semifinal after a gruelling five-set win against Monfils, although Cilic was playing some of his best tennis in his life. Nishikori battled against an in-form Djokovic who didn't have the best American hard court swing prior to the US open in 2014 but still outclassed everyone in that tournament. To think that the defending champion Cilic got literally owned by Djokovic in the semifinal of the US open 2015, Nishikori should've won the 2014 US open final. Nishikori is like the better version of Michael Chang his own coach, although maybe in terms of pure speed Chang wins by a small margin.
This was Kei's 2nd consecutive victory over Federer after Madrid in 2013 and took a 2-1 H2H lead at this time. More crazily, he came off a 3+ hour thriller against Ferrer in a 11-9 3rd set tiebreaker in the previous round, saving match points. And then a recovery in less than 24 hours, coming back here from behind against Federer again. Insane. Too bad he was physically toast after that and couldn't take the court against Djokovic in the semis.
There's actually another anime that really personifies Kei Nishikori specifically in one of the characters, basically taking young Kei in anime form (the anime is called Baby Steps, LMAO, no joke, btw.)
@@blaster36000 i know the anime, read the manga too but Kei resemble not really just echizen but mostly all the quirks and skill from PoT. Lol. He finished Roger here with a "Jack Knife"
@@blaster36000 Bruh I should check it out, Prince of Tennis sucked after the national tournament honestly 😂🤣 I heard they started to make newly themed recaps of the old matches like Ryoma vs Tezuka, Fuji vs Kirihara, etc. That's a really good move. Naruto can learn a thing or two from that, they could've focused on making prequels to hidden leaf ninjas but came up with trash Boruto 🤦♂
@@mikoobear Nishikori resembles Echizen with the way they dress similarly, the hat. And yeah the Jack Knife was Momoshiro and Sengoku's weapons, Momoshiro and Kaido are some of my favorite players lol
Nishikori came from the bolettieri academy, same as andre agassi thats why the short swing and taking the ball early, though agassi hits cleaner, both are fun to watch cause of that
The goal of tennis for 20 years was to to beat Federer or beat his record's No one else ever will be like him. Well done to all who played against the most amazing fun and stylish player to ever play such a long career. Novak and nadal just happened to have a model to push them further Both Nadal and novak if they lived in the 80's or 90's may have retired with 10 slams or 12 but with federer leading the way with 14 slams up already they had to set their heights high
For a vod with this title... it seems like there are more Federer winning highlight points than NIsihkori. Also... was @18:33 clip really necessary? DIdn't even show second serve for point.
Sure! Whoever reaches 6 first wins the set. But he has to reach it with a 2 game difference. 6-4 for example. If they tie 5-5 it has to end at 7-5 with a 2 game difference. But it they tie 6-6, they play a tie break. Whoever reaches 7 points first wins. But it also has to be with a 2 points difference. Hope that clarifies my friend
Your title isn't just insulting Federer but with no respect for Nishikori at the same time. Could have made some fans dislike him (Nishikori) for no reason. I've found this's not the appropriate way for whatever the reason is. (my viewpoint, w respect.)
Michael Chang was born in New Jersey. Sorry, but the rest of the world considers people from Asia to be Asians, not just whether you "look pretty Asian" or had Asian ancestry.
Kei would have won at least two or three grand slams if he were a few more inches taller and had a slightly more effective serve. Without a single grand slam, he's still one of the most talented tho
