World number five Kei Nishikori started off his North American summer hard court season with a tough victory over rising Australian James Duckworth in three sets, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 at the Citi Open in Washington. The Japanese star most recently had to pull out of Wimbledon with a calf injury. Although he suffered from a slow start, the second seed displayed no signs of the injury during the match.
Nishikori won the coin toss and chose to receive, and broke the young Aussie right away. However, Duckworth broke right back to level the set at 1-1. Nishikori then returned the favor again, and consolidated to go up 4-1. The young Aussie finally found rhythm on his serve and overwhelmed the second seed with bombs. Nishikori blew his lead with poor service games and the young Aussie was able to get the set to a tiebreak. Duckworth battled in the tiebreak, and served it out to capture it at 10-8.
Duckworth suffered from a major letdown in the second set, and quickly went down 0-5. Nishikori regrouped and displayed the form that took him the US Open final last year. With a clear strategy of attempting to break down Duckworth’s weaker wing- the backhand, he grabbed the second set at 6-1.
The final set was more even, however Nishikori continued to hold the upper hand. Nishikori went up a quick break, with Duckworth’s serve and backhand breaking down. The Aussie had chances to break back at 1-3, but double faulted to give the chances away. Nishikori went up 5-3, and had two match points while returning. He blew them with missed returns, but was able to serve out the match to win 6-4.
Nishikori’s performance in the Citi Open will be vital to his confidence moving forward in the US Open Series, especially after a disappointing Wimbledon. He faces tough challenges ahead, with Victor Troicki, Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson looming in his half of the draw. Cilic defeated the Japanese star in straight sets at the US Open last year. If the second seed reaches the final, there is a high likelihood of facing world number three and tournament favorite Andy Murray.