Ivo Karlovic upsets Kei Nishikori in the first round tie - Davis Cup WG 2012
Croatian tennis ace, Ivo Karlovic, registered a major upset on Friday eve; plonking the 20th ranked Japanese, Kei Nishikori, in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. It opened up the Davis Cup tie brilliantly
for the Croatians with the Japanese squad already on the back foot.
Two matches have been played and the scores rest with one triumph apiece for both countries. Earlier in the day, Go Soeda of Japan bounced back from being two sets down to oust the Croatian competitor, Ivan Dodig, to put
Japan ahead.
Both competitors played extremely well throughout the match. They started off in vigilant fashion; holding on to their respective serves with scores progressing to 4-4. Karlovic was lucky to have earned two early points in
the ninth game, courtesy to a couple of unforced errors from the Japanese; he capitalized on the opportunity and broke serve to the lead at the most crucial stage of the set. He served for the set and bagged it with no pressure at all.
The second set also kicked-off in cautious manner. The sea-saw battle continued for first four games with scores ticking over to 2-2. Once again, Nishikori faulted on his serve and gifted the game to his opponent. No more
breakpoints were witnessed through the set and Karlovic flew away with a stunning lead of two sets upfront.
Nishikori was forced to accomplish a monumental task to fight back with a couple of sets down. He was already under the cosh; losing from an inferior ranked players which was completely uncharacteristic of him. Third set
started slowly but picked up momentum in the midst of it. Karlovic went out with an all-round onslaught; choosing serve-and-volley technique to mount on his opponent who was already facing a lot of troubles especially with his cross-court returns.
The Croatian broke serve in succession at the end of the set and completed a remarkable upset. He helped his team to fight back into the contest and power down the strongest contestant of their rival team. Nishikori will
definitely face a lot of criticism after this loss that can be very costly.
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