Nishikori Discusses Beating Delbonis In Miami 2017 4R
Nishikori Discusses Beating Delbonis In Miami 2017 4R
Mar292017
Second seed Kei Nishikori survived a stern challenge from Federico Delbonis on Tuesday, advancing to the fourth round of the Miami Open presented by Itaú with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the Argentine.
After snatching the second set to level the match, the No. 57-ranked Delbonis, who had upset 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round, took an early break lead in the decider. But Nishikori reeled off five of the last six games to prevail in two hours and 14 minutes.
The 27-year-old Nishikori is looking to win his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and goes on to face Fabio Fognini for a spot in the last four.
“I tried to stay calm and focus again,” said Nishikori, reacting to the loss of the second set. “I knew I [still] hde a lot of chances after losing the set. Even though I was down a break, 2-1 [in the third], I was focusing well. I knew if I fight through I will have some chance, so I just tried to concentrate one game at a time.
“I hope I can win some big tournaments sometime soon. I think that’s my biggest next goal.”
Watch Full Match Replays
Fognini had a much smoother route through the fourth round, dismissing American Donald Young 6-0, 6-4 in 66 minutes. The Italian will look to overturn a 0-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Nishikori, who was runner-up in Miami last year (l. to Djokovic).
In an all-American match-up, Jack Sock won 71 per cent of his service points as he defeated #NextGenATP Jared Donaldson 6-2, 6-1 in 63 minutes.
Sock is coming off his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final showing in Indian Wells, where his run was ended by Roger Federer. The 24 year old has made early moves in the Emirates ATP Race To London, currently ninth after a career-best start to the year, which has seen him win two ATP World Tour titles in Auckland and Delray Beach.
“The more matches you win, the better you feel, the more confident you are,” Sock said. “Physically, mentally [I’ve] never felt better or stronger, so [I’m] just excited for the rest of the year.”
Alexander Zverev came from a set down to knock out top seed Stan Wawrinka and reach the quarter-finals at the Miami Open.
The 19-year-old German beat his 32-year-old Swiss opponent, the world number three, 4-6 6-2 6-1, setting up a tie with Nick Kyrgios or David Goffin.
Rafael Nadal also made it through, defeating France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-4 7-6 (7-4). He plays American Jack Sock.
And Roger Federer beat Roberto Bautista Agut to continue his excellent form.
The Swiss, 35, secured a 16th win from 17 matches in 2017 with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4) victory to set up a meeting with Tomas Berdych, who beat Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3 7-5.
Earlier on Tuesday, last year’s defeated finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan booked his quarter-final spot with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis.
The 27-year-old, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, will face Fabio Fognini, who beat American Donald Young 6-0 6-4.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova says she has got her “day job back” as she prepares to return to tennis after a 15-month ban.
Sharapova was banned for two years last June after testing positive for meldonium, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) reduced the suspension.
The 29-year-old Russian will return at next month’s Porsche Grand Prix, courtesy of a wildcard entry.
“Will it be difficult? Absolutely,” said the former world number one.
“In tennis you lose a lot of hand-eye co-ordination. Practice is never the same as matchplay, to face someone on the other side of the net.”
Sharapova is free to return on 26 April, two days after the start of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
That means she is not allowed to attend the tournament until the day of her opening match.
Sharapova also has wildcards for May’s tournaments in Madrid and Rome, though she has already taken part in two exhibition events since her ban was reduced.
She last played a professional tournament at the 2016 Australian Open, where she failed her drugs test.
“When you love what you do, and you do it with passion and integrity and you work hard and have a team around you, and you’re the driving force, you know what you stand for and who you are,” she told an ANA Inspiring Women in Sports Conference.
“I’ve got my day job back. It’s great. I’ve been training quite hard for the past four months.”
Sharapova was a long-time user of meldonium and says she was unaware it had been added to the banned list at the start of 2016.
On appeal, Cas found she was not an “intentional doper” and reduced her suspension.
“I fought so hard for the truth,” she added. “You don’t realise how much you love something until you lose it for some time.”
All Round of 16 matches to be played Tuesday
View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups & vote for the players you think will win!
Wawrinka vs Zverev | Federer vs Bautista Agut | Nadal vs Mahut | Nishikori vs Delbonis
View Round of 16 schedule
• DAY 7 PREVIEW: Tuesday at the Miami Open, presented by Itau, features all eight fourth-round matches, including four of the top five seeds: No. 1 Stan Wawrinka, No. 2 Kei Nishikori, No. 4 Roger Federer, and No. 5 Rafael Nadal. The field also features three Americans (No. 13 Jack Sock, Donald Young, and qualifier Jared Donaldson), the most since 2004, when there were four (Roddick-Won, Spadea-SF, Agassi-4R, Martin-4R). Six players are looking to reach their first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final: No. 16 Alexander Zverev, Federico Delbonis, Nicolas Mahut, Adrian Mannarino, along with Donaldson and Young. Zverev, at 19, is the youngest player in the field, while Federer, at 35, is the oldest. There are 11 countries represented in the 4R, led by the U.S. (3), France (2), Spain (2) and Switzerland (2). One Each: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Opening the day’s action on Stadium, Nishikori faces Delbonis, who upset No. 15 Carreno Busta in the second round. Delbonis is one of five unseeded players (compared to only three seeds) remaining in the bottom half of the draw, while in the top half, only one unseeded competitor has made it this far. Nishikori, a finalist in Miami last year (l. to Djokovic), won the only previous meeting between the two, a 2011 qualifying-round encounter in Rome.
Next up on the men’s Stadium slate, Nadal plays Mahut for the first time since 2011. Nadal played his 1,000th career match on Sunday, overcoming a 0-6 score in the first set to defeat Kohlschreiber in three. Mahut defeated Pella in straight sets on Sunday, and upset No. 23 Johnson in the second round. The career head-to-head is knotted at one apiece; Nadal won the last encounter via retirement at the 2011 US Open.
Rounding out the Stadium court day session, Federer goes toe-to-toe with No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut. The Swiss star has never lost a set against the Spainard, claiming all 12 sets in their previous five encounters. Like this one, four of their past matches have taken place in the round of 16. Federer service games will be a clash of titans: Fed has been broken only once in two matches here, while Bautista Agut leads the field in rate of return games won, having broken his opponents in 11 of 23 tries.
The evening session concludes with both of last year’s losing semi-finalists, No. 12 Nick Kyrgios and No. 8 David Goffin. Their only previous match was last year’s Tokyo final, in which Kyrgios triumphed in three sets. Both men needed three sets yesterday as well, with Kyrgios edging Karlovic in a deciding-set tiebreak, and Goffin coming back to overcome Schwartzman.
The first two matches on Grandstand feature the American hopes, beginning with an unseeded clash between Young and Fabio Fognini, who has lost to the American in both previous meetings. In his third-round defeat of Paire, Young improved to a tour-best 10-1 in tiebreaks this season, and if he reaches the quarterfinal, it will be the first time since 2008 that two Americans reached the final eight (Roddick, Blake). After that is the all-American fourth-rounder between Sock and Donaldson, the first encounter between the two. Sock is tied with four other players (including Goffin) with 17 wins on the season, while Donaldson is trying to become the first qualifier since Canas (2007, l. to Djokovic) to reach the quarterfinals.
The second half of the Grandstand slate begins with No. 10 Tomas Berdych—making his fifth consecutive appearance in the Miami fourth round, and 9th in 10 years—against Mannarino, in his second round-of-16 showing (2015, l. to Thiem). Berdych has won all three matches between the two, and is one of only four players remaing (w/ Federer, Wawrinka, Sock) who have yet to drop a set. Last up is top seed Wawrinka against Zverev, who needed to save match point and fight through three tiebreaks to oust Isner last night. Wawrinka is celebrating his 32nd birthday, an anniversary he hopes to mark by reaching his first-ever Miami quarter-final. He and Zverev have played once before, in last year’s St. Petersburg final, where Zverev came out on top to win his first-ever ATP World Tour title.
