Kei Nishikori, Michael Russell move into main draw – Winston-Salem Open 2011
Kei Nishikori beats Carsten Ball 6-3, 6-4
Top seed Kei Nishikori of Japan qualified for the main draw as he defeated seventh seed Carsten Ball of Australia in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the final round of the qualifying draw at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on
Sunday. The Japanese took one hour and thirteen minutes to undo his opponent in a one-sided contest.
Nishikori broke the Australian in the fourth game of the opening set and held his serve in the next game to grab a 4-1 lead. The Japanese capitalised on the break of serve and served out the set in the ninth game, clinching it
6-3. The Florida, USA resident had an erratic second serve as he committed four double faults but compensated by sealing seventeen of the 24 first service points in the opening set.
The Japanese took an early lead in the second set as he broke Ball in the opening game and consolidated on it to build a 2-0 lead. The Australian broke back in the fourth game to square off the score at 4-4. Nishikori broke once
again in the ninth game and served out the set at 5-4.
The right-handed will play world number 69 Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the first round of the main draw.
Michael Russell defeats Luka Gregorc 6-3, 7-6(1)
American Michael Russell, ranked 95th in the world, ousted world number 478 Luka Gregorc of Slovenia in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(1) to proceed to the main round of Winston-Salem Open. The match lasted for an hour and 29
minutes.
Russell did not have a good start as he was broken by the Slovenian in the third game and lost the fourth game to trail 1-3. The American made a great comeback after that as he claimed five games in a row, breaking Gregorc in the
sixth and eighth game to win the set 6-3. The five feet and eight inches tall returned brilliantly as he grabbed six of the thirteen first return points in the opening set.
The American and Gregorc did not lose their serve throughout the second set to tie the score at 6-6 and taking the set to a tie-break. Russell was almost flawless in the tie-break, losing only one point and claiming three mini-breaks
to win it 7-1. The right-handed bulldozed his opponent with the first serve, bombarding eight aces and claiming an amazing fifteen of the sixteen points on the first serve in the second set.
Russell will take on world number 59 Adrian Mannarino of France in the opening match of the main draw.
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