ATP Washington: Nishikori victorious despite travel stress
Kei Nishikori , the 2015 winner, made a successful start in the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Washington. And that despite the fact that he had only served at the Olympic Games a few days ago.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 03, 2021, 07:25 am
The special charm of professional tennis lies in the fact that after defeat the players can usually return to winning ways just a few days later. Kei Nishikori, for example, suffered a very special defeat last Thursday: The already daring dream of an Olympic medal was downright breaded by Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals in Tokyo, the world number one only gave the local hero two games.
And so Nishikori went to Washington for the 500 there, which he won in 2015. The change of continent didn't hurt the Japanese, Nishikori won against Sam Querrey 6: 4 and 6: 4. The reward for this is a meeting with Alexander Bublik, who was also at the start in Tokyo, but was defeated by Daniil Medvedev in round one in a close match. Bublik is ranked ninth in Washington, Kei Nishikori's current world ranking position of 67 does not currently allow a placement.
However, Félix Auger-Aliassime also had time to get used to in Washington, who had to give up his sails in Tokyo on his first individual appearance. Against substitute Max Purcell. Auger-Aliassime is number two in Washington behind Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard's first opponent manifested itself in the night from Monday to Tuesday: It will be Jack Sock who benefited from Yoshihito Nishioka's abandonment. Somewhat surprisingly, another local hero played his way into the second round: Jenson Brooksby defeated the two-time major finalist Kevin Anderson 7: 6 (4) and 6: 3.