Nishikori Rolls Past Ferrer Down Under, Sets Up Match With Wawrinka

January 26, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Kei Nishikori powered his way into the Australian Open quarterfinals, defeating ninth-seeded David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday. The fifth-seeded Nishikori notched six break points, displaying his outstanding baseline defense, to seize control of each set and reach the final eight in Melbourne.

“I’m really new to be number five, so I’m still not comfortable,” said Nishikori of his current world ranking. “I think I feel more pressure than before. I think I need more time to get used to it.”

He will have to get used to the high ranking if he continues to play like he has in recent Grand Slams. The 25-year-old from Japan faces a tall-task in the quarters when he takes on defending champion fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Wawrinka edged Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his fourth-round match Monday, winning two tiebreakers for a 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) victory.

The Swiss was able to exact some revenge on Garcia-Lopez, who ousted Wawrinka from last year’s French Open, making him the first Australian Open champion to then lose in the first-round at Roland Garros since Petr Kodra in 1998.

Things got going slowly early for Wawrinka as he had to fight off a break advantage to eventually outlast the Spaniard in a tiebreak.

In the second set, Wawrinka shook off some nerves and took the early break advantage. He would roll to the 6-4 second set win and seemed to be in full control. But Garcia-Lopez would now go away quietly and came back from 1-2 down to capture the third set.

It would get even trickier in the fourth-set as the Spaniard took a 5-0 advantage in the tiebreak. Wawrinka would then fight off five set points, avoiding a fifth-set and stealing the tiebreak for the victory in just over three hours.

“I started to be on my defensive a little bit too much,” said Wawrinka. “[It] was important to win that match again. It is great for me to be in [the] quarterfinals.”

Wawrinka leads the all-time head to head series with Nishikori 2-1, but Nishikori won the last meeting between the two, an epic five-setter at last year’s US Open.

“He’s a tough, tough player,” said Wawrinka. “He improved a lot last year. He’s a great shot maker…He’s always taking the ball really early. It’s always tough to play against him. He doesn’t give you a lot of time.”

On Sunday in Melbourne, Nick Kyrgios survived an epic five-set match against Andreas Seppi to move into the quarterfinals. He will play sixth-seed Andy Murray in the quarters after Murray ousted 10th seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

The other quarterfinal matchup set up on Sunday will feature seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and third-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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