Kei Nishikori slays Guido Andreozzi to enter second round – US Open 2012
Seeded 17th in this event, Kei Nishikori crushed the Argentinean qualifier, Guido Andreozzi, with a breadstick at the US Open 2012 on Monday. He jolted down a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory against the world number 222 to breeze into the round of 64 at
this major hard court tournament taking place from 27th August to 9th September in Corona Park.
The Asian number one unveiled his true form to destroy the qualifier in straight sets in their first outing. He needed one hour and 40 minutes to book a spot in the second round at this final of the four Grand Slam events taking place in New York City, United
States.
Nishikori went berserk after entering the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He hammered massive forehands and backhands to wind up five games in a row before Andreozzi could come on the score board. The Japanese plucked his serve once again and
eventually bagged the opener with a breadstick.
Ranked 18th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Nishikori kept momentum rolling in the following set. He broke the Argentinean’s serve in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. The seed capitalised on another break chance in
the seventh game and eventually clicked the set with a 6-2 success.
The 22-year-old confidently started his campaign in the third set and plucked his opening serve to level the scores at 1-1. He continued hitting exquisite forehands and wiped out his remaining serves. Nishikori got the breakthrough in the ninth game and
subsequently sealed the set by winning six games to four.
All in all, the Japanese star produced a better first serve share of 64 per cent as opposed to his opponent’s 53 per cent and impressively clicked 44 out of 69 points on it. He smashed five aces and hammered 20 winners to earn the limelight.
Up next for Nishikori is the local qualifier, Tim Smyczek, who triumphed over his fellow qualifier, Bobby Reynolds, in a five-set thriller to set up this meeting. Smyczek lost his serve five times but capitalised on six out of 15 break chances to steal the
show.
Tags: