Kei Nishikori’s comprehensive 6-2, 6-3, win over Stan Wawrinka in his first match at the ATP Finals has left the US Open champion faced with some tricky questions to answer.
Losing four out of his six previous matches against Wawrinka prior to their London clash, Nishikori found himself in unfamiliar territory. Instead of having to contend with some serious firepower from the US Open champion, he found himself playing an erratic Wawrinka that struggled to gain any sort of rhythm.
It was evident that Nishikori was the dominant player in the match against somebody that is still troubled by the effects of a left knee injury. A combination of 14 unforced errors and two double faults from Wawrinka was enough to enable the Japanese player to break two consecutive times before sealing the opening set in exactly 30 minutes.
Fearing that the encounter would be a one-sided whitewash, a despondent Wawrinka did continue to fight against a confident Nishikori. He was still far from the form which has taken him to a trio of grand slam titles, but it was enough to generate the occasional cheer from his fans in the crowd. Nevertheless, a lob left by Wawrinka landed just inside the court to secure another break in Nishikori’s fever for 6-2, 3-2.
Nishikori’s well disciplined approach to the match where he focused solely on his performance and not on the lacklustre display from across the net rewarded him well. Standing firm in his service games (winning 77% of points), it was only a matter of time before the fifth seed completed the straight sets triumph. A backhand slice into the net from the Swiss gifted his first match point, which he converted thanks to Wawrinka’s 31st unforced error in the match.
The 67-minute win has increased Nishikori’s chances of ending the year as the world No.3. Nishikori, Wawrinka and Milos Raonic are all battling for the spot in London this week.
“That’s my goal for this week,” Nishikori told BBC Sport.
“Try to win a lot of matches and reach number four or number three. I see the opportunity to go up the ranking.”
On Wednesday Nishikori will play the winner of the Monday night match between world No.1 Andy Murray and Marin Cilic.
.@keinishikori downs a seemingly not-fully-fit #Wawrinka in just 67 minutes to go top of Group McEnroe https://t.co/kRsZ9uv0ca #ATPFinals pic.twitter.com/3c0yJszZBY
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) 14 November 2016
