Kei Nishikori navigated past Ryan Harrison in straight sets to book a quarterfinal date with Mikhail Kukushkin at the Memphis Open.
Nishikori Wins 14th Straight Match in Memphis
Top seed Kei Nishikori is in familiar territory with another win in Memphis. Nishikori needed an hour and 21 minutes to scoot past Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-5. The defending champion was near perfect in the opening set as he broke the American in the third game and then again in the fifth. He would lose just five points on serve in the set and never faced a break point. The second set would see better tennis from Harrison, but he was still on edge as Nishikori broke him in game five.
The top seed looked to be on his way to a quick finish as he served for the match at 5-4. What followed was an incredible 19 point game that saw Nishikori go from 40-15 to being broken for the first time. The game featured four match points for Nishikori and five break chances for Harrison, the last of which he converted to pull even. Almost predictably, Harrison would be broken right back though as Nishikori would then serve the match out to move on to the quarterfinals.
Nishikori would say after the match that it was tough despite the score line, "It was two sets, but it was a tough one. He's always (a) tough player. Especially with this slow condition, it's going to be many long rallies. I'm going to have to stay tough."
American Seeds Have Split Results
Two other seeds were in action Wednesday with fourth seed Sam Querrey finishing off qualifier Henri Laaksonen in straight forward fashion 6-3, 6-4. Querrey blasted seven aces and controlled the action with his serve. The fourth seed won 38 of 50 service points. He was broken once in the opening set, but saved two other break points. The other American seed in action was Denis Kudla. The fifth seed's day did not last long. Kudla couldn't get much going against Mikhail Kukushkin in a 6-1, 7-5 loss. Kudla was fortunate to work his way back into the second set after falling back a break early. Kukushkin kept pressuring his serve however as he ate Kudla's second serve up, winning 17 of 24 points in the second set.
Nishioka Devastates Marchenko
The other singles match of the day saw Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka beat up Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-3. Marchenko had beaten sixth seed Sam Groth in round one, but was putrid on serve in his second round match. The Ukrainian won just 8 of 25 second serve points and allowed Nishioka 11 break chances in the match. The qualifier would cash in on four of those and never let Marchenko see one on his serve. The win matches Nishioka's best ATP level showing, a quarterfinal run last year at Delray Beach. Nishioka will get a shot at Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals.
Thursday's Schedule
Four seeds will hit the courts in Memphis on Thursday in a singles-heavy schedule. Second seed Steve Johnson will make his debut this week against Taylor Fritz. Fritz whipped Michael Mmoh in straight sets in the opening round and will have a shot to upset Johnson, who is 2-3 this season. Third seed Donald Young also appears in his first match of the week as he takes on Marcel Granollers. The rest of the schedule sees 7th seed John Millman battling Benjamin Becker and 8th seed Damir Dzumhur taking on Ricardas Berankis. All four seeds will be in for a fight.