JOIN USDjokovic seals final berth
World number one Novak Djokovic will meet second-ranked Andy Murray in a blockbuster final at the Madrid Open after beating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Saturday.
Defending champion Murray knocked out home favourite Rafael Nadal in the other semifinal at the Caja Magica, repeating his victory over the Spaniard in last year's final as he won 7-5, 6-4.
Djokovic looked on course for a comfortable win after breaking world number six Nishikori twice in the first set and earning three match points in the second when he was 5-4 up.
The Japanese fought back, saving the three match points and breaking the Serb before forcing the tie break where Djokovic prevailed 7-4.
The 11-times grand slam winner beat Murray in straight sets in the Australian Open final in January and Djokovic is excited to be renewing his rivalry with the Scot. "Andy has improved tremendously on clay and has proved he is definitely one of the best in the world on this surface," he said.
"The rivalry continues and we've had so many good finals. I look forward to another one."
Bopanna-Mergea lose
India’s top doubles player Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea could not defend their Madrid Open title as they lost the summit clash to Jean-Julien Roger and Horia Tecau.
The sixth seeded defending champions lost the closely fought final 4-6, 6-7 (5) to the third seed Dutch-Romanian combination in one hour and 11 minutes.
Kyrgios warned?
If tennis player Nick Kyrgios has been warning about his behaviour from Australia's chef de mission for the Rio Olympics, he is not showing it.
The talented and hugely confident Kyrgios hit back with some cheeky humour from the Madrid Open, where he hit a stunning lob between his legs on his way to defeat at the hands of Kei Nishikori.
"Someone tell that Kitty chiller to watch that tweener lob, then she will understand why I'm on watch for the Olympics lol," he posted on Twitter.
Chiller had told reporters at the Australian Olympic Committee's AGM on Saturday that she thought his behaviour "appalling".
"It goes against every value that all the Olympians live by, it goes against everything that we've been trying to build in this team," she said.
"It is not behaviour that I would want any team member in a team that I'm responsible for to exhibit."