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History-making Nishikori beats Djokovic to reach U.S. Open final

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Ganbatte Nishikori!!!

16 ( +16 / -0 )

Go Nishikori Go. Be the first Asian/Japanese to win a Grand Slam!!

9 ( +11 / -2 )

He looked really strong and Djokovic just didn't have an answer. Impressive performance.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Watched the match and although it was REALLY hot Nishikori did outplay Djokovic and deserved to win.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Congratulations to Nishikori for reaching the finals! Well played.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Super!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

that's Japan for you ! hell yeah ! Good work Nishikori-san !! :)

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I great job for Nishikori. Perhaps this will finally boost the game some more here in Japan and we can start getting rid of that silly "soft" tennis, designed so long ago because "Asians" didn't have the "physique" to play "regular" tennis.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

The Florida-based star also praised the work of coach Michael Chang, a Grand Slam winner with the French Open title in 1989.

“He’s been helping me a lot. We’ve been working well so that’s why I’m here.”

Good to hear !! . . . I Hope we see more of this kind of cross-national participation!.................CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NISHIKORI, you did a nation prod.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Great job Nishikori-san and good luck in the final.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Great effort by Nishikori! I really hope he does well in the final. And thumbs up to Djokovic for saying that he was simply outplayed. No excuses, it's great to see an athlete give credit where it is due. Respect.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Yay!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

“He played some great tennis. I congratulate him for the effort. He was the better player today,” said the Serb.

Absolutely correct -- Kei was just the better player, by far. Good on Djokovic to state it.

that's Japan for you !

Really? Nishikori has lived and trained in Bradenton, Florida for many years, and is coached by Michael Chang, an American of Taiwanese descent. And Kei's father wished he would grow up to be a "man of the world". Can we not make this a nationalistic thing? And if you watched the match, like I did, you would see that the American crowd was rooting equally for both players -- maybe even a little more so for Kei.

-2 ( +11 / -13 )

Prince of Tennis :)

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Awesome, he is in excellent form and has been playing some sublime tennis with just unbelievable finishing shots. Cilic just destroyed Federer, so we have the most surprising final in recent memory. Cilic too, is a hot form, going to be one hell of a final. Shame Tennis has been the domain of the overpriced WOWOW channel for so long and isn't mainstream in Japan, would be nice if this was catalyst for change. I'll be streaming the final tomorrow.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Amazing accomplishment!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Well done, Kei! I tipped him on here to win the title before the tournament - it is his time - and I reckon he can dominate the lower ranked Cilic in the Final. If Kei wins, he will become the greatest Japanese sportsman of all time - and the parties here will go on for days! Make Tuesday a national holiday!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Absolutely sensational! Good luck in the final Nishikori. I hope you win though even just reaching the final should make you very proud indeed.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Japan is Back! Well, actually I know Japan has never been there, but still. It is the sentiment, and I'm not even a tennis fan. It is inspiring to see what you can do when you have the guts and perseverence to do stuff.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Congratulations to all Asians and especially Japanese. It has been too long in coming. May he win on Monday.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Congratulations to Kei.

And 40 degrees in New York? Cripes!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@ Jerseyboy I totally agree with you

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Congratulations to Nishikori, but, just out of interest, doesn't his coach Michael Chang qualify as an Asian man? He did, after all, win the French Open in 1989, meaning that Nishikori is the second Asian man to reach a grand slam final.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

philsandoz, the thing is Michael Chang is American.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

This final is good for the sport - no Nadal, Federer or Djokovic. Nothing against those truly great players and very decent fellas but it's good to see a major going somewhere else. Both Cilic and Nishikori have done superbly to get into the final - well done to both. I always find patriotic drum-banging irritating, so may the best man win.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Congratulations to Nishikori, but, just out of interest, doesn't his coach Michael Chang qualify as an Asian man? He did, after all, win the French Open in 1989, meaning that Nishikori is the second Asian man to reach a grand slam final.

As someone else had already stated, Michael Chang is an American.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

@ Jerseyboy I totally disagree with you

I don't even understand the point you're trying to make. Many professionals in tennis, ice skating, golf, etc travel to where the coach lives or wants to train. Training in Shimane in the winter might not be very productive.

The match is in America, and there were no Americans playing, who else are they gonna root for? Why not let Japan enjoy their win? I sure hope you never uttered the words USA! USA! USA!

Besides, Jadeey MofoHomo Yodna's "that's Japan for you !" comment is so vague it's hard to say what he means.

-1 ( +8 / -9 )

I'd like to correct the information in your article. Michael Chang is the first Asian guy reach USOPEN men's semifinal in 1992. Michael is now Nishikori's coach since January 2014.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Mr Chang is STILL Asian, however you paint it. His parents? Asian. His nationality? American, his ethnicity? Asian. QED.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Groan! Time to boycott any and all Japanese media for the next two weeks. It'll be replay after replay after replay....

-8 ( +4 / -12 )

YES!! A well deserved reward for years of hard work. All the best for the final Kei, but regardless of the result you're already a winner.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@jerseyboy I think it's more a case of Japanese people following the scripted 'we are smaller and physically inferior' narrative. When a Japanese athlete achieves something like this, it's more like the small, plucky underdog beating those big, strong foreigners through hard work than 'aren't we great'. There's nothing the Japanese love more than casting themselves as the underdog.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A lot of news articles about Nishikori's win say "first Asian" and a lot say "first man from Asia". To say "first Asian" instead of "first man from Asia" is confusing but not wrong. Michael Chang was born in New Jersey. He both is and is not Asian, depending on which meaning of the word you want to use at the moment.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"“I hope it’s big news in Japan. Even though it’s 4 o’clock in the morning, I hope everybody’s up watching.”

Well, everyone with WOWOW could, which is not many people. This should have been on a regular cable channel as well, given the significance of it. This would have been an excellent chance to see Nishikori at his best. I wonder if they'll talk to WOWOW about being able to broadcast the final.

Jadee Mofohomo: "That's Japan for you!"

What does that mean? I think, "That's Nishikori for you!" might be apt, but even then there is a reason for why this was history-making -- it hasn't happened before, and the last Japanese man to make it near this far was in 1918, so unless you're suggesting that it takes Japan nearly 100 years to get something done, I don't really see what you're driving at.

In any case, this is a very pleasantly surprising result. I think Nishikori will win it all, given this victory, and he still has quite a few years left to go to win a lot more. Congrats to him, and good luck in the final!

0 ( +5 / -5 )

I'ld likes to Congratulation to Kei-chan for reaching Grand Slam final and first ever Asian man in Grand Slam final history apart from US Citizen Michael Chang.

Thanks to Michael Chang coaching style and game strategy for Kei-chan. Kei-chan has so much improved under Michael Chang coaching. I hope he will win final and becoming first ever Asian to win Grand Slam in history.

Honestly, I never though about Japanese Tennis man or woman player will ever play in Grand Slam final. Now it’s becoming real in Grand Slam Tennis history.

Ganbare Kei-chan. Chance is rarely coming twice. You must take it seriously when opportunity comes across your path. There’s no second chance but just only once. Ganbare Kei-chan.

Good luck!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is an absolutely resounding achievement. With the lack of sports culture, generally smaller Asian built size players, Kei-kun has to really excel way and beyond to get to where he is now. His coach Michael Chang would echo the same feeling. Michael was lucky that his relentless effort paid off during the French Open, and it was also expected that he was not dominating in his time despite having stretched tennis racket to have more powerful serve and longer reach.

Kei-kun seemed to have overcome all the short comings in an amazing all round play. Hopefully his physical endurance will stand the test and clinching his first Grand Slam title. Go Kei-kun.. Go!!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

. I Hope we see more of this kind of cross-national participation!..

Have you got your head in the sand on everything? This kind of cross-national participation has been going on in tennis for decades.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The Björn Borg of Japan in the making?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Fantastic !! Well done Kei - Go Japan ;-)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

US9393, Americans have a very inclusive idea of who is American. I think he is American too.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is great news for many, many tennis schools in Japan too... I very much hope Nishikori-san goes on to win and continues to do so for a few years.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Well done, Kei-san ! Let the haters hate. You must rise above that. You have a great chance to win the Final of a Grand Slam tennis event ! Keep your eyes on the prize ! I firmly believe that Michael Chang has a lot to do with Kei-san's success this season ! Ganbarre, Kei-san !

0 ( +1 / -1 )

CarcharodonSEP. 07, 2014 - 07:38AM " Shame Tennis has been the domain of the overpriced WOWOW channel for so long and isn't mainstream in Japan, would be nice if this was catalyst for change."

Amen.

It's so nice to be out of Japan just now, and able to see these matches on regular TV. Seems like there are baseball games on every night. How about some tennis?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Horse, mouth, proof and all that: “We get on great,” Chang said. “Obviously with myself being Chinese and Kei Japanese there are cultural differences but cultural similarities too, as we are both Asian. If we are going out to eat we don’t have to say: ‘Hey, do you want Asian food?’ There is no hesitation.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

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