Montreal (AFP) – Japan’s Kei Nishikori staged a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 fightback over Alex Michelsen on Tuesday to earn his first victory at an ATP Masters match in three years. The 2014 US Open runner-up, who has been plagued in recent seasons by injury, turned the tide at the Montreal Masters as he put out the 55th-ranked American teenager who played last month’s Newport grass final.
The tournament lost another big name Tuesday when Canadian Milos Raonic withdrew an hour before his opening match with a shoulder injury. The US Open tuneup event is already missing Olympic champion Novak Djokovic and silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz, who both withdrew.
Nishikori, aged 34 and ranked 576, earned a second-round match with eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, a former Grand Slam finalist like his Asian opponent. “It has been a long time. This means a lot, especially the way I played in the third set,” Nishikori said. “The first two sets were a bit up and down but in the third I was playing pretty good tennis. I had good movement when I needed it and I played aggressive. Things were working really well.”
Nishikori and Tsitsipas stand 1-1, with their last meeting in 2021 at the Miami Masters. The winner said that his fitness was not optimal during the match. “I was not feeling 100% and I didn’t have much confidence,” Nishikori said. “But when I won the second set I was happy with how I was playing.”
Nishikori let go of a 3-1, 40-15 lead in the first set, losing it before starting to turn the tide. He ended after two and a half hours with four breaks of serve and 30 winners to the 14 of his 19-year-old opponent.
Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up, has struggled with medical problems that have allowed him to compete in only three Grand Slams since May 2021. He was to have begun his home campaign against 13th seed Holger Rune but the 33-year-old was unable to make his start and now faces more uncertainty about his tennis future after a five-year absence from Montreal.
“A lot has happened in the last 48 hours and I’ve not had a chance to think,” said Raonic, who lost in the Paris Olympic first round. “I was just trying to be ready for today and have a chance to play. But I had been doubting it was possible after having to cancel some practices. I tried to warm up for my match and it was difficult to serve. I would not have been competitive by any means. Without serving it would have been a tough day with the pain in my shoulder. I’m nowhere close to where I need to be.”
Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego put out Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (9/7), 5-7, 6-4. Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry won a South American struggle over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 6-2. Karen Khachanov beat Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-4.
© 2024 AFP
