Kei Nishikori battles past Gilles Muller into the second round – Winston-Salem Open 2011
Top Japanese Kei Nishikori, ranked 48th in the world, came back after the thrashing in the first set to beat world number 69 Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in three sets 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the first round at the Winston-Salem
Open in North Carolina, USA on Monday. The Japanese took two hours and twelve minutes to beat his opponent in a marathon match.
Muller came roaring into the match and drew the first blood, breaking the Japanese in the second and fourth game to blaze forward to a 5-0 lead. Nishikori avoided a bagel set as he managed to hold his serve in the sixth game to
reduce the trail to 5-1. Muller did not allow the Japanese to win any more game, serving out the set at 5-1.
The Luxembourger served almost flawlessly, firing seven aces and clinching all the eleven first service points in the opening set. Muller also grabbed five of the eight second service points in the first set. The 28-year-old also
returned very well as he sealed a whopping five of the eleven first return points and converted two of the three break points he received on Nishikori’s serve in the opening set.
Muller and the Japanese won their serve in the first nine games of the second set and took the score to 5-4 in the former’s favour. Nishikori succeeded in breaking the Luxembourger in the tenth game, winning the set 6-4.
The Japanese bagged fifteen of the eighteen first service points and six of the twelve second service points in the second set. The right-handed smacked a single ace and capitalised on one of the two break point opportunities he
created on Muller’s serve in the second set.
Muller drew the first blood in the final set as he broke the Japanese in the third game and held his next service game to build a 3-1 lead. Serving for the match at 5-4, the Luxembourger lost his serve and levelled the score at
5-5. Muller and Nishikori claimed their next two service games to equalise the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. The Japanese hit a drop shot winner to claim a late mini-break in the tie-break and won it 7-5.
The 21-year-old fired five aces 73 percent of the first serves, capturing 22 of the 32 points on the first serve and six of the twelve points on the second serve in the third set.
Nishikori is slated to face twelfth seed Pablo Andujar of Spain in the second round.
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