Some matches are satisfying less because of the quality of the competition than the lessons they offer, and the light they shed on the nature of the game, the nuts and bolts of technique, strategy, and execution. Andy Murray's blowout win over Kei Nishikori (6-3, 6-0) in the semis of this Masters 1000 event was one of them.
Caveat: Nishikori is a better player than he showed this day. He appeared to be hampered by a tender ankle, and he looked spent after making his best run yet in a Masters event—a run that began with a desperate, from-match-point-down victory in his first match. Still. . .
It's an open secret that Nishikori lacks a big weapon, and his firepower is modest. A guy like that makes Murray lick his chops, because he knows that whatever else happens, his opponent will not be able to dictate play. And that means Murray, so artful and clever, can play cat-and-mouse to his heart's content. Or he can, as he so often did today, just hang back and use his versatile arsenal to create long rallies, goading his opponent into ending them with unforced errors. In that sense, Murray beats up on guys like Nishikori like a boxer who does most of his damage with relentless body-punching.
The other big takeaway in this one was that Murray's combination of a fine serve and a super return pays dividends at both ends of the court. Nishikori, who's serve is average or below, can't bang his way out of trouble the way Murray can. And while the highest-ranked Japanese man—ever—has a solid return, it's not as aggressive as Murray's. The Scot has a greater capacity to hurt with his return. The fact that Nishikori was flat-footed and tired only served to bring these tendencies into high relief.
Things began to unravel for Nishikori quickly. After an exchange of holds, he led 30-15 when the wheels started to fall off. A forehand and a volley error by Nishikori brought Murray a break point that Nishikori converted for him by driving an inside-out forehand out. It was a distinct letdown for which Nishikori never recovered. I assume that once the pre-match energy wore off, he was in big trouble.
Nishikori would hold one more game, but that was it—Murray cleaned up after that, because Nishikori couldn't take control of points and Murray's serve and return kept the underdog at arm's length. And what a long arm it was. Murray won 15 of the the last 21 points in the first set, and by the start of the second, Murray was busy striving for a perfect conversion rate on his first-serve points. When he went 1-0 up in the second set, he'd won 17 of 17 of his first-serve points.
I suppose Nishikori still had a chance to turn it around when he served the second game of the second set, but Murray played a very telling point at 30-all. Nishikori drove Murray's service return deep to the baseline on Murray's backhand side. Reacting quickly, Murray stabbed out a two-handed backhand half-volley of the shot. Nishikori then drove a forehand into the net. That brought Murray yet another break point.
Once Murray won that game, the rout was on in earnest. Nishikori never saw a break point. Ultimately, both men served above 60 percent, but Murray won 96 percent of his first-serve points (Nishikori won just 59 percent). Murray had 20 winners, Nishikori just 6—almost an exact reverse image of the unforced error count, which ws 20 (by Nishikori) to just eight by Murray.
—Pete Bodo