Japan’s Kei Nishikori scores long-awaited win in Montreal

 

[August 07, 2024]  Japan's Kei Nishikori ended a three-year drought by defeating American teen Alex Michelsen 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday in the first round of the National Bank Open in Montreal.

Nishikori, 34, had not won at the ATP Masters 1000 level since 2021 at Indian Wells.

"It's been a long time," Nishikori said in his on-court interview. "It means a lot, especially the way I played in the third set. First and second set, many ups and downs and I was missing a lot of balls. Third set, I was playing pretty good tennis, I think, good defense and, when I needed to, I was having good movement and playing aggressive. It was working really well."

A former No. 4 player in the world in 2015 now at 576th, Nishikori needed 2 hours and 33 minutes to oust the 19-year-old Michelsen, ranked No. 55.

Nishikori fired 29 winners and converted 4 of 12 break points, to 3 of 4 for Michelsen, who had seven double faults.

"I just needed to keep believing in myself, that's the only thing I can do," said Nishikori, who has 12 tour-level titles. "To be aggressive, start hitting more forehands and backhands (down the) line. I think that started working well in the second set."

In other main-draw matches, 16th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia downed Canadian wild card Gabriel Diallo in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, and Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry needed three sets to oust Chile's Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-2.

Etcheverry was 4 of 8 on break-point opportunities. Jarry was 2 of 4, and his 38 winners and 15 aces were undermined by five double faults and 37 unforced errors.

Portugal's Nuno Borges rallied to beat Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, while Italy's Lorenzo Sonego won a battle with the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4.

Aug 6, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Alex Michelsen (USA) hits a forehand against Kei Nishikori (JPN) (not pictured) in first round play at IGA Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

In Tuesday night action, No. 13 seed Holger Rune of Denmark outlasted Spanish lucky loser Roberto Bautista Agut for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory. Rune had to withdraw from the Olympics due to a wrist injury, but he bounced back to improve to 13-2 in first-round matches this season.

"It was a challenge for sure," Rune said. "It's never easy coming back after a little break -- not the longest break, but for me, I'm very young and luckily I haven't been injured much. It was difficult, but I think I managed to find the rhythm quickly."

Rune is off to face another Spaniard, Pablo Carreno Busta, who, while playing on a protected ranking, downed Hungary's Fabian Marozsan 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-3 on Tuesday.

No. 15 seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile also prevailed, defeating American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-2.

--Field Level Media

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