Kei Nishikori sweeps past Stephane Robert to reach the second round – Australian Open 2012
Japanese number one, Kei Nishikori, tumbled over the French star, Stephane Robert, with a bagel at the first of the four Grand Slam events, Australian Open 2012, on Tuesday. He clobbered a 6-1, 7-6(7), 6-0 victory over the 31-year-old French to book a spot in the round of 64.
24th seed Nishikori crushed the French, ranked 106th in the South African Airways ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, in straight sets on court number six at the Melbourne Park. He fired 35 winners and smacked seven aces to overpower Robert in their first duel with each other.
The 22-year-old Japanese went berserk in the start at the opening set and stroke out first four games in a row before the French could hold on. He then earned another break of serve in the seventh game and pocketed a breadstick in nineteen minutes.
Nishikori lost his track in the second set and after losing his serve in the third game, he trailed 2-3. However, the Japanese recovered in the tenth game and dragged the set to a tie-breaker. He prevailed in it and clinched the set with a 7-6(7) score line in almost an hour.
The Japanese youngster unleashed his true colours again in the third set. He blasted powerful strokes and perfected his game to go on a six games killing spree, earning a bagel in almost half an hour.
Seeded for the first time at a major tennis tournament, Nishikori defended two out of three breakpoints he came across and capitalised on seven out of twelve break opportunities. He also formulated a better first serve share of 71 percent as compared to the French’s 49 percent and registered an impressive 47 out of 61 points on it.
“That gives me a little bit of pressure because I feel like I have to win with these guys,” the Japanese said about his higher rank. “I have to play with lower ranked guys now.”
Next up for Nishikori is the winner of the match between Brazilian challenger, Joao Souza, and a local star, Mathew Ebden. The Japanese needs to play in a similar way in order to crush the lower ranked players and to advance further in this event.
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