Kei Nishikori ousts injury-stricken Nikolay Davydenko in quarter-finals – Proton Malaysian Open 2012
Asian number one, Kei Nishikori, recorded a 6-4 retirement victory against the Russian contender, Nikolay Davydenko, at the Proton Malaysian Open 2012 on Friday. As a result, he booked a spot in the final four at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour 250 Series event held in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Seeded third in this event, Nishikori from Japan, required a single break of serve to pull out the opener. However, the Russian challenger was forced to retire from the match with an adductor strain after that, eventually rewarding seed a place in the semi-finals
at this indoor hard court event.
"I played good today, even though he retired," said the Japanese about his performance in the opening set. "It was tough to see. In the first set I was playing with a lot of confidence, making almost every ball on his serve."
“It’s sad to see him retire but hopefully he is fine. There was a lot of support today in the stadium and I had fun on court. I’m looking forward to the semi-final,” Nishikori reflected about Davydenko’s retirement.
The Japanese star made a convincing entry at the Putra Indoor Stadium. He plucked his opening serve and levelled the scores at 1-1. Nishikori continued hitting angled shots and managed to break his rival’s serve in the fifth game. The Japanese kept his remaining
serves with poise and eventually sealed the opener by winning six games to four.
He superbly dusted away all three breakpoints he came across and converted one out of four break chances to his advantage. The Japanese also produced a better first serve share of 71 per cent as compared to his rival’s 66 per cent and impressively clinched
17 out of 22 points on it.
However, Davydenko was unable to continue the match and as a result the Japanese earned the glory.
Nishikori will lock horns with the second seed, Juan Monaco, who dumped Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in straight sets to set up this meeting. The Argentine cashed in three out of seven break opportunities to formulate a 6-3, 6-4 success in almost one and a half
hour.
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