Nishikori first into second round of Dubai tennis championships

  DUBAI - Kei Nishikori was the first player into the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Sunday (March 14), overcoming Reilly Opelka 3-6 6-3 6-4 to set up a second round meeting with fifth seed David Goffin. Nishikori, a former world number four, has suffered several career setbacks due to illness and injury. After losing in the third round of the US Open in August 2019, he underwent elbow surgery for a second time. In 2020, after a year out of the game, he played just four events, winning two matches. When this season got underway, he lost both of his matches at the ATP Cup and then his first round match at the Australian Open, but things took an upturn earlier this month when he reached the quarter-finals in Rotterdam. Things appeared to be going against him when Opelka broke to lead 5-3 and served out the first set to love, and when Nishikori broke to lead 3-1 in the second he suffered a problem with his right ankle and needed to have it strapped at the next changeover. When play restarted, Nishikori appeared to have no further discomfort and he went on to level at one set all. In the third set, Nishikori received the gift of a double-fault from Opelka to gain a 4-3 lead, and that one break was enough to decide the outcome. "I played a very solid match today," said Nishikori. "I tried to focus on my first service game because I knew there wouldn't be many chances on my return game. I tried to make my first serve and I think I did quite enough. I surprised myself how I returned well on break points." ICA/Expat Media
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