Djokovic upset by unseeded Nishikori in Basel

BASEL (Reuters) – World number one Novak Djokovic was surprisingly beaten by unseeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in the semi-finals of the Basel Open yesterday, suffering a new injury setback in the process.

The Serb, returning to action this week for the first time since aggravating a back injury in the Davis Cup tie against Argentina in mid-September, was troubled by his shoulder as he lost for only the fourth time on the ATP circuit this year.

Nishikori’s final opponent will be Roger Federer, who continued his dominance over his fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka with a straight sets win in yesterday’s other semi-final.

Nishikori, a wildcard entrant, romped through the final set as Djokovic, who received treatment on his shoulder between games, lost heart, winning 2-6 7-6 6-0.

“Recovering is what matters now,” said Djokovic, who is due to play in Paris next week.

“I don’t think in these conditions I will be able to train for the next couple of days. I’ll see what the team think.”

Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, came onto court for his first match last Tuesday wearing a halloween mask, but was not in the mood for joking after yesterday’s exit.

“It’s tennis, sometimes you lose these matches. I have to give my opponent credit, he was better than me, but I didn’t take my chances,” said Djokovic, who has reached the semi-finals in all 13 ATP tournaments in which he has competed this year.