Nishikori Into Second Week

Despite his runner-up finish at the 2014 US Open, the Australian Open remains Kei Nishikori’s most successful Grand Slam. The two-time quarter-finalist improved to 19-6 in Melbourne Park on Friday, advancing to the round of 16 for the fifth straight year with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

A break in hand, the 26^th-seeded Garcia-Lopez, who came into the match with a 0-2 deficit in FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters with Nishikori, had a chance to serve out the first set at 5-4. But after falling behind 15-40, he dumped a forehand into the net as his opponent brought the set back on serve. Two games later, Nishikori took the 46-minute set on yet another untimely error from Garcia-Lopez.

To the 32-year-old Spaniard’s credit, he didn’t let the missed opportunity drag him down. He came out firing in the second set and broke Nishikori in the first and fifth games to level the match at one set apiece. It was the first set he had taken from the top-ranked Japanese man in their three encounters.

Nishikori, 26, moved ahead two sets to one with a break at 3-2 in the third, and struck again at 1-all in the fourth to distance himself in the two-hour, 48-minute contest.

Nishikori advanced to the third round after defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round, and Austin Krajicek 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the second round. This is his seventh Australian Open appearance. He reached the quarter-finals in 2012 (l. to Andy Murray) and in 2015 (l. to Stan Wawrinka).

Garcia-Lopez was bidding to reach the round of 16 here for the second straight year. He fell to 2-8 against Top-10 players at the majors.

The match was played under a closed Margaret Court Arena roof as rain prevented play on all but the three covered courts in Melbourne Park.

Nishikori, who won 16 of 24 (67%) net approaches and registered 33 winners to 38 unforced errors, will next face No. 9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tsonga defeated Pierre Hughes-Herbert 6-4, 7-6(7), 7-6(4) in the first of two all-French third-round clashes. The 2008 Australian Open runner-up has now lost just one of 14 meetings with his countrymen at the majors. Nishikori owns a 4-2 edge in FedEx ATP Head2Head match-ups with the Frenchman.

Also advancing on Friday was No. 15 seed David Goffin, a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 winner over No. 19 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria. The Belgian Davis Cup hero registered 55 winners, 17 aces among them, to 61 unforced errors. He is just the fourth Belgian man to reach the last 16 in Melbourne. Olivier Rochus was the last to do so in 2005.