Janko Tipsarevic outclasses Kei Nishikori in the opening round of the Serbia Open
World number 36 Janko Tipsarevic met the expectations of the local crowd by defeating the Japan’s number one, Kei Nishikori in the first round of the Serbia Open, being played at the Tennis Center Novak complex in Belgrade, Serbia
on Monday. The seventh seed Serb edged past his opponent by 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(0), in two hours and eighteen minutes to make it to the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour event.
26-year-old Tipsarevic gave an absolute treat to watch for his home crowd at Belgrade, bouncing back in the game after dropping the opening set early. The Serb continued his brilliant run against Nishikori, defeating him for the
third consecutive time in the running ATP season. He extended his all-time head-to-head record against Nishikori by 3-0, as he outplayed the Japanese at Chennai and then at Delray Beach earlier this year.
47th ranked Nishikori had a ballistic start to the contest and blew away Tipsarevic in the first set to put him under pressure early. He was just two points away from concluding the match at 5-4 in the third set but
the Serb denied him and sealed the contest with authority in the tie breaker round.
Tipsarevic’s sloppy footwork put him on a disadvantage right from the beginning, with the Japanese exploiting his sluggishness. Nishikori lost merely three points in the first four serve games while breaking the Serbian serve twice
to get a commanding position in the opener. The Japanese took the first set on an assertive note at 6-2 to get into 1-0 lead in the competition.
The Serb made a tremendous comeback in the following set, devastating his Japanese opponent with ease. Although he recorded a poor first serve precision of 43 per cent, Tipsarevic faced one break point in the second set. He converted
two of his five break chances to seal the second set at 6-2, levelling the contest with one set a piece.
The two men exchanged a serve break before entering into the decisive tie breaker round. Nishikori fell two points short of victory at 5-4, failing to break the opponent’s serve. Tipsarevic proved absolutely unplayable in the tie
breaker round and reeled off seven consecutive points to close the contest at 7-6(0). He finished the match with an 11-point winning streak; four in the twelfth game and seven straight points in the tie breaker round.
The seventh seed Serb will take on the special exempt from Germany, Mischa Zverev, who defeated Dudi Sela of Israel in the opening round at Belgrade.
Tags: