Japanese third seed Kei Nishikori overcame some stiff resistance in the opening set before easing his way past Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(3), 6-2, in the second round of the Basel Open.
Facing the Italian world No.38 for the first time in three years, Nishikori experienced frustration throughout the first set as he failed to convert any of his six break point opportunities. The breakthrough occurred in the tiebreaker when Lorenzi’s fragile serve got exposed twice to enable the third seed to close the set out. Clinching the first set, Nishikori grew stronger in the second as he only dropped five points behind his serve on route to sealing the win in 99 minutes.
@keinishikori “I played much better tennis in the second set as in the first one. But I’m happy with my play.” #SwissIndoors pic.twitter.com/UrmlCWe8WY
— Swiss Indoors (@_Swiss_Indoors) 26 October 2016
After overcoming a tentative start to the match, which consisted of a selection of unforced errors, Nishikori’s first serve aided his straight sets win over Lorenzi. The former US Open finalist won 83% of his first service points compared to his rivals 63%. Nishikori is the 16th consecutive top 10 played that has defeated Lorenzi on the tour.
As a result of his triumph, the 26-year-old is now set to play either fifth seed David Goffin (who won his first round match earlier this week) or Stockholm Open champion Juan Martin del Potro. Crowd favorite del Potro overcame two breaks of service in the second set to see off qualifier Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4. The match was briefly halted midway after Haase injured his right leg and was seen sitting on a chair in the middle of the court. Despite the scare he continued with the match, but failed to find answers to questions asked by his Argentine rival on the court.
“I feel my game is slowly getting better. I’m playing well after Stockholm, which was great for my game,” said del Potro after his win.
“I never gave up when I was injured, I wanted to return and I hope to try and win a third title here.” He later added.
Another Argentine triumph on Swiss territory was that of Guido Pella, who progressed to the last sixteen after Richard Gasquet retired. The Frenchman, who won the inaugural European Open in Antwerp last week, struggled with his movement throughout the match.
In other matches at the tournament, German qualifier Mischa Zverev continued his surge in form with a 7-6(4), 6-4, win over American rising star Taylor Fritz. The 29-year-old recently became the first man this season to come through qualifying at ten different tournaments on the ATP Tour. Moscow Open champion Pablo Carreno Busta downed compatriot Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3, and Jack Sock defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3.
