It was a far from perfect start at the Australian Open for Japanese eighth seed Kei Nishikori on Tuesday.
The former US Open finalist looked on course for a shock defeat to Polish player Kamil Majchrzak before an unfortunate turn of events went in his favour. After an hour and 40 minutes of play, Nishikori trailed the match by two sets to love, before his opponent was hit by severe cramping that severely impacted his movement. As a consequence Nishikori clawed his way back to force a decider before a devastated Majchrzak called it quits with the score at 3-6, 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-2, 3-0.
“It’s unfortunate how we finished. I feel sorry for him. I wouldn’t say it was a good game (because of how it ended) but I have to be happy for the next round,” Nishikori said.
“I didn’t play badly but I have to give credit to my opponent who played better. He was amazing defensively and was stronger than I had imagined. His movements were restricted (after the injuries) and all I tried to do was not lose my concentration.”
Nishikori’s scare comes after what has been a solid start to his 2019 season. At the Brisbane International, he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final to win the title. His first on the ATP World Tour since February 2016. In Melbourne he is hoping for a deep run with the goal of raising up the rankings. Nishikori is currently ranked 9th in the world, but hasn’t been in the top eight since July 2017.
“I have to be happy about reaching the next round because I almost lost today.” Nishikori reflected.
“I will try to be more positive for the next round and hope I can keep playing better. I’m really happy to be back (at the Australian Open) because last year I missed it due to my wrist injury. I hope I can have a good two weeks.”
There will be no room for complacency in his second round match. Nishikori is set to next face Ivo Karlovic, who fired 39 aces during his first round win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. Karlovic is the oldest man in the draw at the age of 39 and is playing in his 16th consecutive Australian Open main draw.
Nishikori leads Karlovic 3-2 in their head-to-head.
