Kei Nishikori, Feliciano Lopez advance to the third round – London Olympics
Kei Nishikori beats Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Asian number one from Japan, Kei Nishikori, fought back from a deficit of one set to outlast the former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the second round at the London Olympics on Tuesday.
Nishikori hit a blow to the Russian in the very first game of the match and held his following serve to take a 2-0 lead. Davydenko did not take much time to level the proceedings at 2-2 but the next five games went with the serve,
taking the score to 5-4 in favour of the Russian. Serving to stay in the set at that time, Nishikori could not hold and lost the opener 4-6.
In the second set, Davydenko and Nishikori captured their opening serves to even out the score at 1-1. The Japanese nailed a break in the third and consolidated on it to grab a 3-1 advantage. Nishikori did not let away his lead
till the end to snatch it 6-4.
Carrying the winning momentum into the final set, the Japanese player made an ideal start, as he struck twice in the first four games and held his own serves to build a 4-0 lead. Nishikori allowed the Russian player to claim only
one game till the end, sealing it 6-1.
The Japanese contestant is pitted against the fourth seed, David Ferrer of Spain, in the round of 16. The Spaniard beat Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the second round.
Feliciano Lopez defeats Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4
World number 29, Feliciano Lopez of Spain, knocked out Argentina’s Juan Monaco in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round on the grass courts of All England Club.
Lopez and Monaco held their serve in the opening three games to take the score to 2-1 in the former’s favour. The Argentinean drew the first blood, clinching breakthrough in the fourth game and capitalising on it to move ahead
4-1. However, Lopez made a stunning turnaround, as he won five in a row to grab it 6-4.
In the second set, Lopez went ahead by breaking Monaco in the fifth game and holding his subsequent serve to gain a 4-2 lead. The Spanish contender maintained his advantage till the end and closed it 6-4.
Lopez will meet the fifth seeded Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the third round. Tsonga created history by winning the longest three set match in the history of Olympics, as he defeated Milos Raonic of Canada 6-3, 3-6, 25-23
in the round of 32.
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