NISHIKORI ROLLS OVER WAWRINKA AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR TENNIS FINALS

Written by: Staff on 14th November 2016

NISHIKORI ROLLS OVER WAWRINKA AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR TENNIS FINALS

epa05631274 Japan's Kei Nishikori returns to Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka during their singles group stage match at the ATP World Tour finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 14 November 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

By Ricky Dimon

In a rematch of a 2016 U.S. Open semifinal, Kei Nishikori cruised past Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 during round-robin action at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Monday afternoon. Nishikori needed just one hour and seven minutes to snag a 1-0 record in Group A.

It was a much different story from what had transpired at Flushing Meadows a few months ago, when Wawrinka beat Nishikori in four sets on his way to the title. The third-ranked Swiss has slumped since then and he could not regain his form in this one. Wawrinka sprayed 31 unforced errors–15 off the backhand side and 12 with his forehand.

Nishikori, meanwhile, struck 19 winners to just 18 errors and did not face a single break point. He wrapped up the proceedings in his style with his third break of the day at 5-3 in the second set.

“It was not a great match compared to what I can do, that’s for sure,” Wawrinka lamented. “Wasn’t a great day for myself. In general, I think he played well–put a lot of pressure (on me) from the beginning…. I was hesitating a lot with my game (and) my movement…. I was feeling better on the court (than in previous weeks), so I thought I could play at a better level today. I was expecting a good match; didn’t happen today.”

Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka returns to Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their singles group stage match at the ATP World Tour finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 14 November 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN

“I felt very comfortable out there,” Nishikori commented. “(I) started very good from the first game. So I was very confident. I [saw] that he wasn’t playing his best and he was missing–a lot of unforced errors. I [saw] a lot of opportunity today, so I [tried] to be aggressive.”

In the afternoon doubles match, Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram upset No. 1 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 6-4. Klaasen and Ram broke serve three times on five chances to prevail in one hour and 22 minutes.

Wild momentum swings marked the end of the opening set. Ram served for it at 5-4 and led 40-15 only to squander three straight set points–including one with a double-fault and another during which the Frenchmen hit two shots off the net cord. In the next game, however, Mahut also got broken from 40-15 up. Klaasen produced an incredible backhand return for the break before the South African served things out at 6-5.

One break at 2-2 in the second set was enough for the seventh seeds to get the job done.