Kei Nishikori came back from a set down to edge Croatian rising star Borna Coric in three sets with 2-6 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Japan Open ATP 500 in front of 10000 enthusiastic fans who packed the Ariake Collisseum in Tokyo.
Nishikori clinched his 49th of the season. The two-time Rakuten Open champion, who is bidding to qualify for the ATP World Finals in London for the second consecutive year, was broken in the first and in the third games of the first set to cruise to 4-0. Coric, the youngest player in the top-50 of the ATP Ranking, held his serve both times but he had to save five break points on his two service games.
After trailing 1-5 in the first set Nishikori fended off three set points at 15-40 at deuce but Coric closed out the first set with 6-2 after 48 minutes on his second set point.
Nishikori broke serve after Coric committed two double faults. The home star got the double break and served for the set but he faced three break points which he saved with his serve.
Nishikori went up a break in the third set but he faced two break back points. He saved them and did not face any break points on his next service games. Nishikori got the double break en route to clinching the third set with 6-2 in two hours and eight minutes. Nishikori saved eight of the ten break points he faced and won 72 percent of his service points
Nishikori set up a second-round match against Sam Querrey who edged Aleksander Dolgopollov with 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
After winning a tight first set at the tie-break Querrey did not face any big problems on his service games and clinched the second set with a break in the ninth game
Another Japanese win came from Tatsuma Ito who came back from a set down to overcome Yoshihito Nishioka with 3-6 6-0 7-5 in the all-Japanese clash. Ito will face the winner of the match between Stan Wawrinka and Radek Stepanek.
