Top seed Kei Nishikori is rounding into impressive form at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, sprinting into the last four on Friday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over sixth seed Joao Sousa. Nishikori wasted little time jumping to a 4-0 lead, dominating the lengthy baseline rallies in capturing the opening set. Sousa settled into the match and hung tough with the top seed throughout the second set, but the World No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings secured the critical break up 5-4 to wrap up the contest in 72 minutes. Nishikori evens his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Sousa to 1-1, with the Portuguese player prevailing via retirement last October in Tokyo. Since dropping his opening set this week...
Kei Nishikori’s connection to Argentina goes way beyond his partnership with current coach Dante Bottini. More than a decade after winning the 2006 Roland Garros boys’ doubles title, Kei Nishikori and former Argentine player Emiliano Massa reunited at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. After Nishikori defeated Diego Schwartzman in his opening match on Wednesday, he met up with Massa in the player’s lounge to relive those special memories. What they lacked in verbal communication during their junior playing days, they made up for with a natural partnership on court. “We almost lost the first two matches. We barely spoke English at the time, so we talked very little to each other,” recalled Massa to the Argentina Open website. “What...
Top seed Kei Nishikori survived an inspired challenge from home favourite Diego Schwartzman to win in his first outing at the Argentina Open in five years on Wednesday. The Japanese World No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings fought back to claim a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 result to advance to the quarter-finals. Nishikori had won the Memphis Open title as top seed for the past three years but elected to change up his schedule to play in South American in 2017. Looking to transfer that good fortune as top seed to the clay in Buenos Aires, however, Nishikori found his run under serious pressure early on when his Argentine opponent, ranked No. 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, broke to...
Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer took to a different court location on Tuesday ahead of the Argentina Open. The duo had a hit on Puente de la Mujer, a rotating footbridge in the commercial district of Buenos Aires. "It’s a really beautiful place here and [it's] really fun to have some time with David," said top seed Nishikori. "I hope I can stay healthy here this week and hope I can enjoy this week." [ALSO LIKE] "We were on the bridge, it was nice with Kei," added Ferrer. "It’s important for the tournament and we have fun." Nishikori will face the winner of the match between Diego Schwartzman and Facundo Bagnis, while Ferrer, the third seed, will open in the...
