Kei Nishikori must have learned his lesson. After playing a five-set opener in the Melbourne heat on Monday, the Japanese avoided such serious tension during his second-round match, dismissing Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours on Wednesday at the Australian Open. “It was a good match. Definitely much better than the first match. There were many up and downs in the second set and in the third set, too,” Nishikori said. Nishikori saved six of nine break points faced and made Chardy work all match long on his serve. The fifth-seeded Nishikori converted seven of 18 break points against the 29-year-old Chardy, who was trying to reach the third round in Melbourne for the third...
Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov speak with ATP World Tour Uncovered Presented By Peugeot about the challenges the players face in Melbourne as well as the best part of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov speak with ATP World Tour Uncovered Presented By Peugeot about the challenges the players face in Melbourne as well as the best part of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Kei Nishikori showed his deciding-set prowess once more on Monday to start the 2017 Australian Open in Melbourne. The fifth seed survived a mid-day battle against Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2 in three hours and 34 minutes. “I didn't quite play great tennis in the beginning, but especially in the fifth set, I think I was really focused and played good tennis,” said Nishikori. “I’ll try not to play a long match like this again. But the fifth set was pretty good, so I think I'm in good shape for the next round.” Nishikori led the fourth-set tie-break 5-2 before Kuznetsov stormed back, winning six of the final seven points to force a fifth set. But Nishikori,...