Kei Nishikori rallies past Robin Haase into second round – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011
Japanese Kei Nishikori battled through Netherlands’ Robin Haase to reach the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event taking place in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. He bounced
back to register a 0-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) victory over the 24-year-old Dutchman to lock horns with the fourth seeded French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Tuesday.
Nishikori barely did anything in the opening set but made a massive comeback to register a three setter victory on their first meeting. After earning success in this two hours and twelve minutes long match, the Japanese not only
took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against Haase but also booked a second round spot in this prestigious event.
Dutch number one, Haase proved his class in the opening set as he stormed into the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena to wipe out all six games in a row to earn a bagel. He warded off all three breakpoints faced and cashed in on
all three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
After the Japanese held his serve in the opening game, Haase went into rage mode and stroke out next three games in a row. He broke Nishikori’s serve again in the fifth game and went 4-1 up.
Nishikori founded the $3,240,000 track after this and snatched one break back in the sixth game. He then maintained his composure and after keeping remaining serves and pocketing another break, the Japanese clinched the equaliser
by winning seven games to five.
21-year-old carried his winning ways in the final set and held his serve in the opening game to take the initial lead. Despite losing his serve in the seventh game, he remained focus in the match and eventually succeeded in snatching
the break back in the tenth game. The set was dragged to a tie-breaker where Nishikori prevailed to bag the decider with a 7-6(5) win.
Next challenge for the Japanese is the fourth seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who received a bye into the second round.
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