Kei Nishikori stuns David Ferrer to reach quarters – London Olympics 2012
Japanese number one, Kei Nishikori, surprised everyone after upsetting the fourth seed, David Ferrer, in a three-set thriller at the London Olympics 2012, major sports event held after every four years. He nudged up a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 victory against the top Spaniard at this event to book a spot in the final eight on Wednesday.
The 15th seeded Japanese showed brilliant skills to shock Ferrer with a bagel in their third encounter at Games of x*x Olympiad. After registering the victory in one hour and 56 minutes, Nishikori not only avenged his loss at the Rakuten Japan Open last season but also took lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 2-1 against the Spanish veteran.
Nishikori went out of control after entering the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. He blasted massive forehands and reeled off the opening six games in a row, eventually pulling out the opener with a bagel.
The world number five, Ferrer rebounded in the second set. He got the coveted break in the second game and jumped to a 3-0 lead before Nishikori could come on the score sheet. Despite losing his edge in the fifth game, the Spaniard capitalised on another break chance in the very next game and leaped to a 5-2 lead. He held his serve once more and sealed the equaliser by winning six games to three.
Ranked 17th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Nishikori re-gained his strength in the final set which counted the most. He easily swiped his entire serves with self-assurance. The Japanese cashed in his break opportunity in the last game and clinched the decider with a 6-4 score line.
The jubilant Japanese is coming off from quarter-final showings at Newport ATP event and at the BB&T Atlanta Open. He will face off eighth seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the last eight at this event.
The Argentinean number one plonked 12th seeded French, Gilles Simon, in a three-set thriller to set up this meeting. Del Potro required one hour and 51 minutes to formulate a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory against the French number two.
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