TENNIS – Top seed Kei Nishikori started his title defence at the Barcelona Open with a 6-3 6-4 win over Teymuraz Gabashvili to advance to the third round. where he will face Santiago Giraldo or Joao Sousa. Lat year Nishikori won this tournament beating Giraldo in the final. Diego Sampaolo
Nishikori broke serve before wrapping up the first serve by holding his final serve to love. Gabashvili made his third double fault to drop his serve in the fifth game for 2-3. Nishikori hit an ace to seal the win. Nishikori hit 22 winners
“I played a good two sets. It wasn’t easy for my first match on clay this year but I served great. It’s always special to come back and defend the title here where there are such great facilities. It was a great first match. It was my first match of the year on clay, so I was a little tight but I played a great two sets.”, said Nishikori.
The biggest surprise of the day was 17-year-old Andrey Rublev’s win over Fernando Verdasco with 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. World Number 329 and last year’s Roland Garros Junior champion Rublev, who achieved the best win of his young career, will take on Fabio Fognini in the next round.
Rublev broke serve three times and saved five break points.
“I am really happy to win against one of the best players on Tour. I tried not to think and just keep showing my best every point. I had nothing to lose”, said Rublev.
Thirty-four year-old Victor Estrella Burgos from Dominican Republic fended off 8 of the 10 break points he faced in his 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win over Dominic Thiem. Estrella Burgos will take on 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic
Roberto Bautista Agut dropped just seven of his first serve points in his straight-set win over Thomas Bellucci with 6-3 6-4.
Nicolas Almagro advanced after Paolo Lorenzi withdrew after just three games as he was trailing 0-3 because of an injury. Almagro will face eight-time Barcelona champion Rafa Nadal in the second round. It will be a re.match of last year’s quarter final where Almagro upset Nadal.putting an end to his 41-match winning streak in Barcelona.
Albert Montanes fought back from a set down to edge Ricardas Berankis 1-6 6-4 7-5. Juan Monaco overcame Alejandro Gonzales 7-5 6-1 to set up a second round match against Martin Klizan.
