Kei Nishikori advanced to his eighth Grand Slam championship quarter-final on Monday when he defeated Fernando Verdasco 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 at Roland Garros in two hours and 35 minutes. Eighth seed Nishikori will now challenge World No. 1 Andy Murray, who reached last year’s final. Murray leads 8-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and won their lone clay-court clash at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open. "We have played so many times," said Nishikori. "He's a great player, a very smart tennis player. It's never easy, and I think this week he's been playing well. He's hitting great balls. So I'm sure it's going be tough one, but I will try to enjoy it and try to win the...
Watch highlights of Kei Nishikori beating Fernando Verdasco during the fourth round of Roland Garros on Monday. Peter Staples / ATP World Tour photo. Video courtesy Roland Garros.
Eighth seed Kei Nishikori overcame an onslaught from #NextGenATP Korean Hyeon Chung, surviving after five sets and nearly four hours at Roland Garros. The Japanese advanced to the Round of 16 with a rollercoaster 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(4), 0-6, 6-4 victory, firing a total 62 winners and seven aces, while converting six of 14 break chances. The win puts Nishikori into his sixth consecutive Grand Slam fourth round and third in a row on the Parisian clay. He improved to 16-6 in five-setters in his career. The World No. 9 will look to match his best result here when he faces Fernando Verdasco on Monday. He leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-2, most recently prevailing at the ATP World Tour...
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been named among the world’s Top 10 most famous athletes in new analysis by ESPN. Federer is fourth on ESPN’s World Fame 100 list, Nadal is ninth and Novak Djokovic is close behind at 12th. Federer and Nadal both move up one place from their positions in last year’s inaugural list. Djokovic rises four places from 16th in 2016. Kei Nishikori surges to 20th from 47th last year. Andy Murray slips one spot to 32nd and Stan Wawrinka, at No. 42, is the other ATP World Tour star to make the Top 100 list. Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo heads the World Fame 100 list, followed by Cleveland Cavaliers basketballer LeBron James in second...
Eighth seed Kei Nishikori overcame a slow start to advance to the second round at Roland Garros on Tuesday, blasting 47 winners to beat Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Nishikori, a quarter-finalist in Paris in 2015, is making his seventh appearance at the clay-court Grand Slam. "Today was a tough match," said Nishikori. "I think he played well at certain moments. I think in the third and fourth set I started playing little better. [I'm] feeling pretty good. I mean, it wasn't a perfect match, but still, I think for first match, it was a good start of the tournament." The Japanese right-hander reached the fourth round last year before falling to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. He will next...