Rafael Nadal beats Kei Nishikori to advance to the third round of Sony Ericsson Open
World number 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain prevailed over world number 62 Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the second round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday.
Nadal and Nishikori held their serves in the first four games to level the score at 2-2 in the first set. However, the Spanish broke his opponent in the fifth game and held his serve in the next game, taking a 4-2 lead. Nadal consolidated
on the single break of serve and served out the set at 5-4.
The Spanish hit a single ace and 64 per cent of the first serves in the opening set. The 24-year-old won 76 per cent of the points on his first serves. On the other hand, Nishikori delivered just 47 per cent of the first serves
and converted 86 per cent of them into points in the opening set. The Japanese managed to save 1 of the 2 break points he faced in the first set.
After winning the first set comfortably, Nadal broke Nishikori in the opening game of the second set. Both players held their serves in the next eight games to take the score at 5-4 in favour of the Spanish. Nadal held his serve
in the tenth game, winning the second set 6-4.
The Spanish kept his first serve percentage at 53 per cent, winning 75 per cent of the points on his first serves in the second set. In comparison, Nishikori fired in 77 per cent of the first serves and won 71 per cent of the points
on them. Nadal converted 1 of the 4 break points he received in the second set. The Spanish did not face any break point in the second set. The match lasted for 1 hour and 48 minutes.
The top seed said, after the match, “I'm very happy about how I played. I think I played at a high level tonight. The feeling was better than last week, so that's important. My serve worked very well at the end of the match. Nishikori
is a very, very good player. It’s one of these first rounds that you don't want to see.”
Nadal is slated to face his good friend, world number 41 Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the third round. Lopez upset world number 28 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 in the second round.
Talking about his match against Lopez, Nadal said, “I know it’s going to be a difficult match because he has a very good serve, good volley, and he's very dangerous... but if I play well I’ll have my chances.”
This will be the ninth meeting between these two. Nadal leads Lopez 6-2 in the head-to-head record. In their last meeting, Nadal defeated the left-handed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16 at the US Open last year.
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