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SPORTSMonday 4 April 2016
Djokovic wins 6th Key Biscayne title by beating Nishikori
STEVEN WINE Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, smiles as he poses for photos after defeating Kei Nishikori, of Japan, was doomed by an erratic
AP Sports Writer 6-3, 6-3, during the men’s singles final match at the Miami Open tennis tournament, Sunday, April serve. He double-faulted
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — 3, 2016, in Key Biscayne, Fla. five times, and Djokovic re-
When a flyover by a flock peatedly pounced on his
of pelicans briefly inter- Associated Press second serve to earn five
rupted Novak Djokovic’s breaks.
final service game Sunday, Ranked No. 1, Djokovic ters title, breaking the re- Nadal. He swept Indian After several days of swel-
he waved both arms and earned his 28th ATP Mas- cord he shared with Rafael Wells and the Miami Open tering conditions, weather
grinned as if he had just wasn’t an issue, with highs
won a championship. for the third year in a row. only in the 70s, but Djokov-
The actual celebration He also recorded his 714th ic made sure the match
began moments later, career victory, surpass- didn’t become an endur-
when Djokovic clinched a ing his coach, Boris Beck- ance test anyway. He
record-tying sixth Key Bis- er, and moving into 11th broke in three of his first four
cayne title and his third in place in the Open era. return games, dominating
a row, beating Kei Nishikori “That’s the most important rallies in part because Ni-
6-3, 6-3 in the Miami Open fact,” Djokovic said with a shikori’s shots lacked the
final. laugh. precision of earlier match-
After Nishikori shanked the The No. 6-seeded Nishi- es.
final shot, Djokovic hopped kori lost to Djokovic for the Nishikori required treat-
happily near the net and sixth consecutive time and ment from a trainer on his
delivered a leg kick, flying left thigh late in the second
high himself. During the tro- set, but his bigger problem
phy ceremony, he recalled was his opponent.
winning Key Biscayne for “Hope I can get you next
the first time when he was time,” Nishikori told Djokov-
19. ic during the trophy cer-
“I have a very special emony.
connection to this tourna- “I hope you don’t,” Djokov-
ment,” Djokovic told the ic responded.
crowd. “In 2007 it was the “It’s always tough to play
biggest title I had won in Novak,” Nishikori said later.
my career. It has been a “I thought I wasn’t playing
springboard for everything too bad, but at the same
coming after that. I cer- time he played great ten-
tainly hope that the love nis. He was very patient
affair continues in the years and he didn’t miss.”
to come.” That was nothing new.
Djokovic matched Andre Djokovic won all 12 of his
Agassi’s record of six men’s sets in the tournament. But
titles at Key Biscayne, but he felt he saved his best for
then he wins everywhere last.
these days. He’s 28-1 in “The best two matches I
2016, with the lone loss played in Indian Wells and
coming when he retired Miami were the two finals,”
during his quarterfinal he said. “I’m very pleased
against Feliciano Lopez in with that.”
Dubai because of an eye Djokovic earned $1.03 mil-
infection. lion — the same as wom-
en’s champion Victoria
Azarenka. After winning
Indian Wells two weeks
ago, Djokovic caused a stir
when he said men should
earn more prize money
than women because they
draw larger crowds.
Djokovic overtook Roger
Federer as the ATP Tour ca-
reer leader in prize money
with $98.2 million.
