Kei Nishikori, of Japan, returns a shot to Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, during the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

       NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- Japan's Kei Nishikori was beaten by Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday and unable to move into the men's singles Round of 16 at the U.S. Open.

       The victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium carried Djokovic into the fourth round while improving his head-to-head record against Nishikori to 18-2. Djokovic has won the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the year.

       On Saturday afternoon, Djokovic suffered an early break in the first set, recovered, and dropped the tiebreaker.

       He was tested by the 56th-ranked Nishikori in the match that lasted over three hours, but recovered from an early blip by hitting 45 winners to see off Nishikori in four sets and keep his hopes of tennis' calendar-year Grand Slam and 21st major title alive.

       Nishikori entered the tournament unseeded and was mopped by Djokovic in straight sets at the Tokyo Olympics in late July. The 31-year-old Japanese has not beaten Djokovic in seven years, since the 2014 U.S. Open semifinals.

       Nishikori was the last remaining Japanese singles player at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows.

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0