Nishikori Makes It 14 Straight

Three-time champion Kei Nishikori got his bid for a fourth straight Memphis Open title under way on Wednesday with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over American Ryan Harrison. The top seed extended his winning streak to 14 matches in Memphis with the one-hour, 21-minute result.

Nishikori had won the pair’s two prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings coming into the night clash, including a three-set affair at the same stage of last year’s tournament. After Harrison held his opening service game, the World No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings put the pedal down, reeling off five games in a row, converting on two of three break points before the American could hold again. 

Nishikori secured the opening set on his first opportunity after 27 minutes before his 124^th-ranked opponent mounted a challenge late in the second. With Nishikori serving for the match at 5-4, Harrison converted his first break of the match on his fifth chance. He saved four match points in the process.

His joy was short-lived, however. Nishikori broke again for 6-5 and closed it out with a love hold on his fifth match point to move through to a quarter-final clash with Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, an earlier 6-1, 7-5 winner over No. 5 seed Denis Kudla.