Nishikori, Halep gets past US Open first-round hurdle

Photo: Kei Nishikori in action against Benjamin Becker during the 2016 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.

Kei Nishikori beat German veteran Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to qualify for second round just as Simona Halep routed world No. 56 Kirsten Flipkens, 6-0, 6-2, to scale through.

The US Open first round has not been kind to Kei Nishikori through the years. 

Three times in the last five years the Japanese star has lost in the opening round, including last year’s gut wrenching five set loss to Frenchman Benoit Paire.

On Tuesday, the No. 6 seed successfully navigated his way through to the second round but not without a brief stumble on the way.

He beat the German before an appreciative Grandstand crowd.

The opening two sets took just 49 minutes and was a showcase of the all-around court play that has catapulted the 26-year-old Nishikori into the conversation of a Grand Slam contender at any of the majors. 

The 2014 US Open runner-up punished the ball, collecting 13 winners in the first set and 12 in the second.

When Becker held serve to open the third set, it was the first time the 35-year-old had led in the match. 

And when he broke Nishikori for the first time in the match for a 5-3 lead, the entire tenor of the match turned.

“When he is on he can be very aggressive and he began to step into the ball and he can be a very dangerous player,” Nishikori said of Becker.

[Becker, 10 years ago, ended Andre Agassi’s US Open career with the signature win of his career.]

Becker secured an early break in the last set for a 2-1 lead. But, for the first time in the match, Becker seemed to falter and lose his stamina and nerve, throwing in three double faults in the next game to give back the break.

Nishikori got the decisive serve break for a 5-3 lead and then closed out the two hour and 10 minute match with his seventh ace of the contest.

Nishikori doubled up Becker on winners 47-23 and had just 22 unforced errors to his opponent’s 43.  

Through to the second round for the first time since his breakout run to the final in 2014, Nishikori is keeping a strong summer campaign on the right track. 

He was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Toronto and after losing to Andy Murray in the semifinals, beat Rafael Nadal in the bronze medal match at the Olympics. 

Up against No. 95 qualifier Karen Khachanov of Russia next, Nishikori should be able to extend his summer run.

HALEP BEATS FLIPKENS, THRU TO SECOND ROUND

No. 5 seed Simona Halep continued the momentum she has built all summer hard-court season long.

She routed world No. 56 Kirsten Flipkens, 6-0, 6-2, in the first round on Tuesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Flipkens matched the 24-year-old Romanian’s ground strokes at times, but too often the veteran Belgian’s slice backhands fell short and invited attack. 

Halep was relentless, pounding two-fisted backhands from every corner of the court to close out a first-set bagel in 24 minutes.

Flipkens, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist, was coming off a quarterfinal appearance at New Haven.

She also recorded a shock upset of No. 6 Venus Williams – her fifth career victory over a Top 10 player – at the Rio Olympics. 

She is still seeking the consistency that took her to a career-high world ranking of No. 13 in August 2013, and has now fallen in the first round of the US Open the last four years in a row.

© Copyright 2016 www.elombah.com. Send eyewitness accounts/reports/articles to publisher@elombah.com; follow us on twitter handle @Elombah; like our Facebook page: “Elombah.com”.

Share your thoughts in the comment box below:

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook