Nishikori beating Djokovic at USO 2014 - One of the biggest ever upsets in Tennis history?

aman92

aman92

Legend
I think it gets underplayed how big of an upset this was...however, when I was thinking about this in hindsight, this surely ranks as one of the biggest upsets I have witnessed and probably one of the worst defeats of Djokovic's career.

Considering that:
  • Djokovic was at his peak, was the World No 1 had and was just coming off a win at Wimbledon 2014
  • He would go on an unstoppable run in the next 1.5 years winning 5 of the next 6 slams
  • He has since won 16 consecutive matches against Nishikori, dropping just 5 sets in the process
What will irk him further is that Nishikori didn't even play that well in the match and then proceeded to lay an egg against fellow first time major finalist - Cilic in the final. Surely, this loss must sting Djoko to this day.

 
aman92 said:
I think it gets underplayed how big of an upset this was...however, when I was thinking about this in hindsight, this surely ranks as one of the biggest upsets I have witnessed and probably one of the worst defeats of Djokovic's career.

Considering that:
  • Djokovic was at his peak, was the World No 1 had and was just coming off a win at Wimbledon 2014
  • He would go on an unstoppable run in the next 1.5 years winning 5 of the next 6 slams
  • He has since won 16 consecutive matches against Nishikori, dropping just 5 sets in the process
What will irk him further is that Nishikori didn't even play that well in the match and then proceeded to lay an egg against fellow first time major finalist - Cilic in the final. Surely, this loss must sting Djoko to this day.

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it sure does...but Fed blew it up even further. All he had to do is beat Cilic and Nishikori for another slam, that must sting too
 
aman92 said:
At least Cilic played at an extremely high level which is comparable to the past USO champions. Also Nishikori has been Djokovic's absolute bunny since that match
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Cilic has been Fed's bunny too...at the end of the day if Djo could have won that match he would have...it just wasn't his day.
 
Nishikori was a fighter and won a lot of big matches. His injuries seriously capped his career. Cilic was a bad matchup for him.
 
I mean he lost 2 and 1 against Tsonga in Montreal (biggest humiliation of his career as far as I'm concerned)
and also had a mortifying loss against Robredo in Cincinnati.

This swing came right after he got married and he wasn't in great form. But still yes, it was a huge upset, when you look at the H2H between them (he also lost a match in 2011 but he was injured). 4 years later he beats him 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the same round...

Undoubtly the most unforgiving loss for him at the US Open. I can understand the ones against Nadal, Wawrinka, Murray, Federer and even Medvedev but not this one. He played a horrible match. Nishikori played well but wasn't even that unbeatable (proof Cilic pounded him in the next match).
 
I remwmber wind playing a big factor in this match. Novak was all over Kei in 3rd set, and lost it, then fell apart in 4th. Same like previous year against Rafa. But yes, those 2 matches are all in him.
 
pj80 said:
Cilic has been Fed's bunny too...at the end of the day if Djo could have won that match he would have...it just wasn't his day.
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Sorry? Cilic pushed Federer to 5 sets in an overall exciting (except for the last set) AO final. That's not being a bunny, Roger had to fight for it. Nishikori hasn't been even close to push Djokovic that hard on any single Slam meeting since then.
 
Sport said:
Sorry? Cilic pushed Federer to 5 sets in an overall exciting (except for the last set) AO final. That's not being a bunny, Roger had to fight for it. Nishikori hasn't been even close to push Djokovic that hard on any single Slam meeting since then.
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Fedex had never lost to Cilic before that 14 US….. at that stage, he was his bunny…..

as for the joker leading up to that US Open, let’s see……lost at the 14French, lost at the 14Aus, lost at the 13US, lost at the 13W, lost at the 13 French……so he had won 1 of the previous 6 slams…..yeah, a real dominant number 1 lol
 
Djokovic in his peak years.didn't win a slam for 1.5 years(2013 AO to 2014 Wimbledon)..And lost slam finals to Murray, Wawrinka.. plus this Nishi beatdown..

Man ,it might hurt his fans..But his genetically freak body and weak era post 2016 are the reason he has 21 slams.. his racquet skills aren't in the same tier as the goats of this sport
 
Oceans II said:
That was a peak Nishikori performance. I could hype it up to AO05 Safin levels with similar relentless propaganda. ;)
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Excellent analysis. I rewatched the 2005 AO highlights yesterday. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think that was peak Federer, nor was I partigularly impressed by Safin's level.

2005 AO Federer was far less reliable from the baseline. He approached the net hurriedly and unnecesarily in big points, as if he were not confident enough from the baseline. Safin was very erratic and prone to commit unforced errors. It was Federer's loss more than Safin's win. No wonder why peak Federer destroyed Safin in 3 sets at the AO 2009. He gained more experience and evolved as a player.
 
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Nishikori was a top 10 player at the time, with some very strong wins in his resume, absurd to call this one of the biggest upsets ever.
 
Why would this be one of the biggest upsets ever? I mean a guy whose scalps at the USO also include Cilic (x2), Wawrinka and Murray, made the SF or better 3 times, and who spent more than 4 years in the top 10? There were quite a few bigger upsets in Slams just in the last decade.
 
Sport said:
Excellent analysis. I rewatched the 2005 AO highlights yesterday. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think that was peak Federer, nor was I partigularly impressed by Safin's level.

2005 AO Federer was far less reliable from the baseline. He approached the net hurriedly and unnecesarily in big points, as if he were not confident enough from the baseline. Safin was very erratic and prone to commit unforced errors. It was Federer's loss more than Safin's win. No wonder why peak Federer destroyed Safin in 3 sets at the AO 2009. He gained more experience and evolved ss a player.
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roflmao
 
Sport said:
Excellent analysis. I rewatched the 2005 AO highlights yesterday. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think that was peak Federer, nor was I partigularly impressed by Safin's level.

2005 AO Federer was far less reliable from the baseline. He approached the net hurriedly and unnecesarily in big points, as if he were not confident enough from the baseline. Safin was very erratic and prone to commit unforced errors. It was Federer's loss more than Safin's win. No wonder why peak Federer destroyed Safin in 3 sets at the AO 2009. He gained more experience and evolved ss a player.
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I approve of your logico-methodological analysis of the supposed best match of the Srichaphan era. (y) :D
 
pj80 said:
it sure does...but Fed blew it up even further. All he had to do is beat Cilic and Nishikori for another slam, that must sting too
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Wait...for Djokovic to win the tournament he would have had to go through the exact same opponents as Fed, just in reverse order. How does that translate to "Fed blew it up even further"? :') That is without even comparing Nishikori's and Cilic's levels, where Cilic's was better at that stage of the tournament.
 
JaxTeller said:
Djokovic in his peak years.didn't win a slam for 1.5 years(2013 AO to 2014 Wimbledon)..And lost slam finals to Murray, Wawrinka.. plus this Nishi beatdown..

Man ,it might hurt his fans..But his genetically freak body and weak era post 2016 are the reason he has 21 slams.. his racquet skills aren't in the same tier as the goats of this sport
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He’s not even in the conversation for best ever. Greatest ever, sure due to longevity. But never a BOAT.
 
Well, Nishi was having a very decent 2014 season. I remember he was steamrolling Nadal in Madrid before getting injured. Story of his life.
 
Sport said:
Excellent analysis. I rewatched the 2005 AO highlights yesterday. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think that was peak Federer, nor was I partigularly impressed by Safin's level.

2005 AO Federer was far less reliable from the baseline. He approached the net hurriedly and unnecesarily in big points, as if he were not confident enough from the baseline. Safin was very erratic and prone to commit unforced errors. It was Federer's loss more than Safin's win. No wonder why peak Federer destroyed Safin in 3 sets at the AO 2009. He gained more experience and evolved ss a player.
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"hey guys I rewatched the 2005 AO highlights yesterday"

jim-carrey-yeah.gif
 
Novak wasn't exactly dominant at the time, despite being #1. A top 10 loss in a major SF isn't exactly earth shattering news, it was just odd to see in this era.

And unlike Cilic in the other half, Kei didn't do anything memorable on the court, he was just consistent while Novak played a horrible match by his standards. So this one is rightfully not talked about a ton. It was just a random fluke.
 
MeatTornado said:
Novak wasn't exactly dominant at the time, despite being #1. A top 10 loss in a major SF isn't exactly earth shattering news, it was just odd to see in this era.

And unlike Cilic in the other half, Kei didn't do anything memorable on the court, he was just consistent while Novak played a horrible match by his standards. So this one is rightfully not talked about a ton. It was just a random fluke.
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Lol I wouldn’t say that. Nishikori was painting lines off of both wings.
 
Sure, Djokovic was #1 and coming off a Wimbledon win. But, he hadn't won the U.S. Open in 2012 or 2013 and was coming off a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Tsonga in the R16 in Canada and a 7-6, 7-5 loss to Robredo in the R16 in Cincinnati. Plus, Nishikori was ranked #11.

Compare that to, say, Becker winning Wimbledon in 1985 and 1986 before losing to #70 Doohan at Wimbledon in 1987 after beating him at Queen's Club, 6-2, 6-4. That was a much bigger upset.
 
Yup. Every other one of his losses during that (relative) slump period between 2011 and 2015 can be fairly rationally explained away, but that one?

It's not so much that it's Nishikori, who we know is a good player, and was then relatively unincumbered by the psychological baggage he would pick up as the years went by, but that it was Nishikori coming off back-to-back five-setters when, even then, he had a reputation for being physically meek.

Complete madness.
 
2014 was the last year that Nishikori was healthy all year. And it was easily his best year.

Nishi was 54-14 overall. He was also 11-7 vs the top 10, which is by far that best that he ever did against top-ranked opponents. Included in those wins are wins over Ferrer(4 times), Raonic, Federer, Wawrinka, Djokovic, and Andy Murray.

Had Nishi beaten Rafa at the AO, then he would have taken out all of the Big 4 that year. But Rafa beat Nishi 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 at the AO; a very competitive match at the beginning of the year before Nishi hit his groove.
 
ibbi said:
Yup. Every other one of his losses during that (relative) slump period between 2011 and 2015 can be fairly rationally explained away, but that one?

It's not so much that it's Nishikori, who we know is a good player, and was then relatively unincumbered by the psychological baggage he would pick up as the years went by, but that it was Nishikori coming off back-to-back five-setters when, even then, he had a reputation for being physically meek.

Complete madness.
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Exactly...and to also consider the tear that Nole went on slams after that only losing to an absolutely GOATing Wawrinka at RG, that loss to Kei is still mind boggling for me
 
aman92 said:
Exactly...and to also consider the tear that Nole went on slams after that only losing to an absolutely GOATing Wawrinka at RG, that loss to Kei is still mind boggling for me
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Imo, this win is as worse as Nadal's loss against Wawrinka. totally unexpected and will be a factor in slam race ( for whosoever loses)
 
aman92 said:
At least Cilic played at an extremely high level which is comparable to the past USO champions. Also Nishikori has been Djokovic's absolute bunny since that match
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18-0 against Nishikori since then with 1 on them being a W/O.

That's a serious turnaround.
 
Kralingen said:
I’m going by betting odds son
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Look Grandson , you're 20 something right? okay! Yeah, totally ignore the history.

Bigger shock is a player winning against Novak who has never won before at slam ( never made any slam final) and after that match than a player who defeated Djokovic quite frequently and who made his second us open final.

Betting fav means Jack Son and that too in quite different context but you are known to make outrageous comments so it's expected.
 
NeutralFan said:
Yeah sure remind me kei's h2h vs Djokovic and then Med's h2h against Djokovic. Kei is very definition of piegon and Novak lost to him at his peak unlike his match against Med.
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But are we doing this in retrospect or at the time of the match? Before they played that 2014 U.S. Open SF, the H2H was 1-1, with Djokovic beating Nishikori on clay and Nishikori beating Djokovic on hard courts.
 
buscemi said:
But are we doing this in retrospect or at the time of the match? Before they played that 2014 U.S. Open SF, the H2H was 1-1, with Djokovic beating Nishikori on clay and Nishikori beating Djokovic on hard courts.
Click to expand...

Well, we have to see that in hindsight as well.
 
NeutralFan said:
Look Grandson , you're 20 something right? okay! Yeah, totally ignore the history.

Bigger shock is a player winning against Novak who has never won before at slam ( never made any slam final) and after that match than a player who defeated Djokovic quite frequently and who made his second us open final.

Betting fav means Jack Son and that too in quite different context but you are known to make outrageous comments so it's expected.
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Son i am going to give full custody to your mother, you are misbehaving son and need to be punished. And forget about your allowance and your rent payments this month.
 
duaneeo said:
Considering Djokovic's overall record at the USO, the loss to Nishikori isn't a big upset.
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It definitely is..only other players to defeat Djokovic in completed matches at the USO in the last 15 years are Fed, Rafa, Murray, Stan and Medvedev..
 
aman92 said:
It definitely is..only other players to defeat Djokovic in completed matches at the USO in the last 15 years are Fed, Rafa, Murray, Stan and Medvedev..
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Yeah, but look at his Canada/Cincinnati results all of those years. Lots of wins. Lots of finals. His worst years were (1) 2010, when he lost in the SF to Federer and the QF to Roddick and (2) 2013, when he lost in the SF to Nadal and the QF to Isner.

In 2014, he barely beat his pigeon Monfils (7-6 in the 3rd) before getting smoked by Tsonga in R16, and he beat Simon in a tough match (6-4 in the third) before getting straight setted by Robredo in R16.
 
aman92 said:
Exactly...and to also consider the tear that Nole went on slams after that only losing to an absolutely GOATing Wawrinka at RG, that loss to Kei is still mind boggling for me
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2015 he became a completely different player, so there doesn't seem any point in comparing him here to THAT guy. It is obvious they worked heavily on his serve between the 14 and 15 seasons. Even by the standards of 2012-2014 this is a massive anomaly.
 
ibbi said:
2015 he became a completely different player, so there doesn't seem any point in comparing him here to THAT guy. It is obvious they worked heavily on his serve between the 14 and 15 seasons. Even by the standards of 2012-2014 this is a massive anomaly.
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He just lost one more match and won 3 tournaments including the WTF in 2014....that version of Nole is still light years ahead of any version of Nishikori
 
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