Kei Nishikori showed flashes of his vintage best Tuesday when he overcame #NextGenATP teen Alex Michelsen 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers.
By defeating the World No. 55 Michelsen, it marks the 34-year-old’s first win at ATP Masters 1000 level since 2021 Indian Wells and his highest-ranked victory since Washington that year.
"It's been a long time," Nishikori said with a smile in his on-court interview. "It means a lot, especially the way I played in the third set. First and second set, many ups and downs and I was missing a lot of balls. Third set, I was playing pretty good tennis I think, good defence and when I needed to, I was having good movement and playing aggressive. It was working really well."
[ATP APP]Nishikori consistently struck deep returns to pressure the 19-year-old American's serve, converting four of his 12 break chances. The former World No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings earned a decisive break to clinch the second set and repeated that feat to close the match after two hours, 33 minutes. Competing in his fifth tournament this year across all levels, Nishikori crushed 22 forehand winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
"I just needed to keep believing in myself, that's the only thing I can do. To be aggressive, start hitting more forehands and backhands [down the] line. I think that started working well in the second set," said Nishikori, who has won 12 tour-level titles.
The 2016 finalist, making his ninth appearance at the Canadian Masters 1000 tournament, will next face eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. It will mark their third Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Nishikori won their first encounter in the 2018 Tokyo quarter-finals. The Greek earned revenge in Miami three years later.
In other Tuesday action, Lorenzo Sonego advanced with a 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-4 victory against Tallon Griekspoor.
Did You Know?
Among active players, Nishikori owns the highest deciding-set winning percentage (149-57, .723), according to the Infosys Win/Loss Index.
"It means a lot, especially the way I played in the 3rd set. 1st and 2nd, I was many up and downs, and I was missing a lot of balls, but 3rd set I was playing pretty good tennis, GOOD DEFENCE".
Good defence indeed @keinishikori 👏 pic.twitter.com/fbRv3s9GjO
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