1 of 2 | Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a backhand in his straight sets victory over Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the 3rd round at the 2016 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on September 2, 2016. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, third-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, and fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain all won second-round matches while seventh-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia was the most significant upset victim in Friday's ATP action of the Miami Open.
Nishikori got past Kevin Anderson of South Africa, 6-4 6-3. Nishikori did not face a break point in the match and won 88 percent of his first-serve points. The Japanese star finished off the match by breaking Anderson's serve for the third time.
"I thought it was a great match to start the tournament," Nishikori said. "Played really solid. Everything was almost perfect. I'm very happy with the tennis today. Hopefully every match is going to be like that."
Nishikori was the runner-up at this event last year.
Raonic advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki of Serbia. This was Raonic's first match since suffering a right leg injury Feb. 26.
"I have to be very happy with just the outcome, that I was able to get the win today, that I have another chance to play in two days," said Raonic. "Hopefully I can continue to progress throughout this tournament."
Raonic was in control of the match after winning the first set and racing to a 3-1 lead in the second. But Troicki, who is ranked No. 38, broke serve and tied the set 5-5. But Raonic's pressure on return secured the deciding break to complete the victory.
"I've always been the kind of person that gets the confidence through the work rather than matches, constant matches," Raonic said. "But I've put in the work that I can. I've prepared the best I can for this tournament. I'm not necessarily in the best position right now, but fortunately it's a long tournament. Doesn't mean things can't change and I can't get better throughout this event."
Raonic's third-round opponent is American qualifier Jared Donaldson, who upset 28th-seed Mischa Zverev of Germany, 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal got past Dudi Dela of Israel, 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal faced just two break points and fought off both while recording two breaks of his own to complete the match in 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Nadal will play the 1,000th match of his career on Sunday against 26th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who beat American Taylor Fritz 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (4).
Cilic was beaten by Jeremy Chardy of France, whose 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory represented his first win over Cilic since 2009. Chardy's next opponent will be Fabio Fognini of Italy, who eliminated No. 30 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal, 7-6 (8), 2-6, 6-3. Fognini saved two set points in the opening tiebreaker and eventually won the match in 2 hours and 23 minutes.
Federico Delbonis of Argentina also pulled off an upset, rallying to defeat 15th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Delbonis trailed 3-1 in the second set after losing the first set decisively, but controlled the match after that.
Benoit Paire of France hit some big-time forehands to defeat 21st-seeded Pablo Cuevas Uruguay 7-5, 6-0. Also, Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic ousted 19th-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, while wild-card entrant Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil defeated Stephane Robert of France 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the first round.
