Kei Nishikori takes down Radek Stepanek in the quarter-final – AEGON International 2011
World number 59, Kei Nishikori of Japan, had least trouble in disposing off the Czech competitor, Radek Stepanek in the quarter-final round of AEGON International, being played at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne,
United Kingdom.
In the Thursday’s matchup, the Japanese competitor took just one hour and twenty six minutes to outplay Stepanek in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, making a place in the semis of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour
250 event.
21-year-old Nishikori cruised through the contest with ease, beating Stepanek in the most assertive manner to register his 17th victory of the running year. He took the reins of the match right from the beginning and
then orchestrated most of the rallies in the match. Nishikori clinched 71 total points in the contest, while his opponent followed him with 56 to finish on the losing side in the end.
Both men delivered their first serve with almost 60 percent precision, conceding four double faults each, but the points winning proficiency held the key to success for the Japanese. Nishikori reeled off 26 out of 41 first serve
points to remain one step ahead of the Czech competitor, whose bleak serve game led him down in the contest.
32-year-old Czech veteran had plenty of chances in the contest, crafting 11 break opportunities but converted merely two of them to let Nishikori away with the game. The Japanese successfully broke Stepanek five out of 10 times
to drive him out of the contest and booked a berth in the semi-final of the tournament.
The opener took off with aggression from both men and some early exchanges of assertive winners were seen. Nishikori was the first one to break serve but only to be broken in the very next game, levelling the scores to 2-2.
The Japanese then gathered his pace from there onwards and reeled off the following four straight games, breaking the Czech serve twice and sealed the first set at 6-2. Stepanek replied his rival with a serve break in the very
first game of the following set but the Japanese proved too good for him to handle, as he broke him on two more occasions to conclude victory at 6-3.
Nishikori will now feature the semi-final of AEGON International where he will face the third seed, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia to get a chance for playing in the final. Tipsarevic defeated Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in straight
sets 6-3, 7-6(2), in the other quarter-final of the tournament.
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