Kei Nishikori’s 2016 Abierto Mexicano Telcel campaign is off to a flying start with the No. 2 seed cruising past Dutch qualifier Thiemo de Bakker 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round on Monday night. Fresh from a fourth Memphis Open title, the World No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings needed just under an hour to see his way past his 27-year-old opponent in Acapulco.

“I’m very happy with my tennis today. I started really well,” Nishikori said. “He was missing a lot in those first few games but at the same time I was playing good tennis. The second set, he was a little tight.”

Last year the Japanese player fell as the top seed to second-seeded David Ferrer in the final. This year, their seedings are reversed with Nishikori hoping for a reverse in fortunes.

“I’m aiming for the final again, that’s the goal for this week,” he said. “I never think about pressure from seeds or whatever. I didn’t even remember I was first seed last year.”

In a promising sign for the 26 year old, however, he said he was a better player than at this time last season. “Yeah I think so.  I’ve been playing good tennis in Australia and won Memphis again – four years in a row, that’s something I’ve never done before,” Nishikori said. 

“That’s given me a lot more confidence and I think I’m a little more patient and more consistent. I’m still being aggressive, too, so I’m pretty sure I’m better than last year.”

Against the World No. 105, Nishikori started on fire, reeling off the first set without the loss of a game on his third set point. De Bakker stemmed the flow of games against him, holding serve to open the second set, before Nishikori inched closer with a break for 4-3. He would save himself having to serve it out, landing a sixth break of the match for 6-3 when the Dutchman was serving to stay in the tournament.

De Baker’s countryman and doubles partner for this year’s event, Robin Haase, was more fortunate. Haase had a straight-forward 6-1, 6-2 win over Mexican wild card Luis Patino. Another Mexican wild card, Tigre Hank, fell by the same scoreline against Adrian Mannarino. The French lefty scored the comprehensive victory over the home hopeful, converting all three of his break points along the way.

Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko took down American qualifier Tommy Paul 6-2, 7-6(4), while Donald Young avenged a loss to Gilles Muller in Atlanta last year with a 6-3, 6-3 result.

The past two months have seen an Austrian invasion in Latin America. With the ATP World Tour’s ‘Golden Swing’ coming to a close this week, Dominic Thiem has arguably made the biggest statement with his strong performances in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, but another integral member of Austria’s tennis resurgence is quietly vaulting up the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Quick, name the player with the most ATP Challenger Tour match wins and titles in 2016. If you answered Gerald Melzer, you would be correct.

The 25 year old has taken the circuit by storm in the first two months of the season, racking up Emirates ATP Rankings points throughout Latin America, from Argentina to Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Melzer found immediate success to open his 2016 campaign, winning the title on the clay of Mendoza (Argentina) in early January. Proving that his all-court game translates to multiple surfaces, he would go on to capture two more trophies, prevailing in Bucaramanga (Colombia) and on the hard courts of Morelos (Mexico) on Saturday. His 18 wins in 21 matches are tops on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“I finished last year earlier than usual and I started working with a new fitness coach [Philipp Wessely] and a new tennis coach [Marco Hammerl],” Melzer told ATPWorldTour.com following the Morelos final.  “We worked really well together in the off-season. I didn’t know what to expect from this trip. It’s been six tournaments over seven weeks.

“I wasn’t too confident to start the year, but then I started winning and round-by-round I was feeling good. I won almost all my three-set matches (7-2 record). Now I feel that if I hang in the match and do my best, I will always have a chance to win. All of a sudden I won three of six tournaments. I’m more than happy with that.”

It has been a long journey to a career-high World No. 116 and following a disappointing end to 2015, the left-hander says he owes a lot to big brother and former World No. 8 Jurgen as he hurtles towards the Top 100.

Sibling rivalry? Not in the Melzer household.

“After my brother’s injury, he came on court and helped us and tried to be there as much as possible. That was pretty cool. He had shoulder surgery in November and is trying to rehab and come back. I’m hoping we can play some more together on tour. That would be really nice.”

At Wimbledon last year, their tennis nightmares were realised when they were drawn to face each other in the first round of qualifying. It marked their first competitive match and Jurgen, who would prevail in straight sets, labeled it as “the worst tennis day of my life”.

Gerald echoed the same sentiment when reflecting on his brother’s mentorship over the years. On 11 January, with his trajectory pointing skyward following his title run in Mendoza, the Vienna native finally passed Jurgen in the Emirates ATP Rankings, but he was quick to dismiss any significance to the achievement. Gerald points to a bond stronger than anything that transpires between the lines.

“Nope, it doesn’t mean anything to me because there’s no rivalry at all. He was injured and could not play, so his ranking was dropping. That doesn’t mean anything to me. Zero.

“When I was younger, I was always thinking that I’m not so bad, but where Jurgen was (in the Top 10), was just a different world. It was so far away. I was hoping we would travel to the same tournaments and play Davis Cup together one day. That was so far away too. Just reaching that now was something I never expected and it’s something that makes me really happy.”

Last season saw Gerald explode onto the ATP World Tour scene with a run to the semi-finals in Munich as a qualifier. He won five matches in seven days, including a three-set victory over Thiem in the quarters. But with success comes greater expectations, and while Gerald says he struggled with the mounting pressure, he learned a lot from the experience.

“Munich was my biggest result ever. After that, I felt I could go for it as I didn’t have anything to defend for the rest of the summer. But the expectations were higher than they should have been. I felt more pressure to win more matches and get to the Top 100. I learned a lot from the last year and it’s helping me take the next step in my career.”

Now, after seven weeks on the road, Gerald is happy to go home for the first time in 2016 and spend time with family. The Top 100 is well within his grasp.

“Every player’s first goal is to get to the Top 100 and get into the main draw in the Grand Slams and ATP World Tour events. I’m in a good position for the rest of the year. It’s what I’m working for.”

A host of the ATP World Tour’s leading doubles stars, including Jamie Murray and top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, took part in a tennis clinic as part of J.P. Morgan Kids’ Day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday. The trio’s visit was a highlight for the children from 25 local schools participating in the two-hour long clinic.

“It was good fun, a lot of kids came out and there was a great energy out there,” said Murray, who is competing this week with Tommy Robredo. “The guys ran it really well and all the kids seemed to love it. The kids played well, some good young talent out there.”

In first-round doubles action, Roberto Bautista Agut and Joao Sousa downed Ukrainian pairing Sergei Bubka and Sergiy Stakhovsky 2-6, 6-2, 10-8.

At the Brasil Open, in Sao Paulo, Argentines Federico Delbonis and Diego Schwartzman scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over Facundo Bagnis and Inigo Cervantes.

Second seed Thomaz Bellucci will open his campaign in Sao Paulo against lucky loser Roberto Carballes Baena. The 22-year-old Tenerife native made the most of his second chance at a main draw spot, beating Taro Daniel 6-2, 7-6(4) at the Brasil Open on Monday.

Carballes Baena’s compatriot, fellow Spaniard Daniel Munoz de la Nava, saved nine of the 11 break points he faced to beat Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes. One of three 34 year olds in the draw (also Paolo Lorenzi, Paul-Henri Mathieu), Munoz de la Nava awaits the winner of seventh seed Nicolas Almagro and Brazilian wild card Thiago Monteiro.

Making it a clean sweep for Spain, Daniel Gimeno-Traver bounced back to deny Brazilian wild card Guilherme Clezar 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Gimeno-Traver hit nine aces and won six of 13 break points on his way past his 23-year-old opponent.

He’s spent the past three weeks relaxing with his family after capturing his 11th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but Novak Djokovic picked up exactly where he left off as he returned to action with aplomb on Monday evening in Dubai.

The Serb advanced to the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in just 66 minutes, sweeping aside Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-2.

Djokovic surrendered just seven points on serve in the dominant display, breaking Robredo four times from 13 opportunities.

“Obviously playing my first match in three weeks, different conditions, I didn’t know how I would start, whether or not I would execute the game plan as I prepared myself to,” said Djokovic. “But everything went well. Very few things went wrong.

“I was putting constant pressure on his serve. I returned very, very well. Served solid and was aggressive from the back of the court. I cannot be happier with this performance.” 

The 28-year-old Djokovic is now just one win away from claiming his 700th career victory. The Belgrade native will face Malek Jaziri for that honour as he bids to reach the quarter-finals.

“Every milestone is very special, of course. I wish that I make the 700th win in this tournament, obviously,” said Djokovic. “But it’s not going to affect too much my preparation for the next match. It’s not going to change too much the way I approach the next match or this tournament. Of course I’ll be very pleased if it happens here.

“Jaziri told me he had a great off-season and it pays off. He won a couple of matches in Australia and here. Let’s see what happens. He plays quite different from Robredo. He’s standing closer to the line, he has flat shots and better serve. Got to be ready for it.”

Djokovic is a perfect 13-0 at the start of 2016, having triumphed in Doha (d. Nadal) before winning his sixth Australian Open trophy in Melbourne (d. Murray).

The right-hander is chasing his fifth title at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2009 (d. Ferrer), 2010 (d. Youzhny), 2011 (d. Federer) and 2013 (d. Berdych).

Canada’s Vasek Pospisil notched his second win of the season as he battled past Lucas Pouille 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes. The 25 year old goes on to face Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated Viktor Troicki 7-6(2), 6-2 in 90 minutes.

World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka enjoyed the ride of his life on Sunday as he visited the popular Dubai XLine ahead of his first-round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Wawrinka leaped 90 metres off the W1 Tower in Downtown Dubai and flew 558 metres over the Dubai Fountains, taking in the views of the iconic Burj Khalifa and Downtown area.

The 30-year-old Wawrinka is back at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament for the first time since 2008. The Swiss is chasing his second title of the year, after lifting the trophy in Chennai in the first week of the season.

Seeded second behind World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka will open his Dubai title bid against Sergiy Stakhovsky on Tuesday.

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