Hong Kong Open: Nishikori upsets Khachanov to book quarter-final spot and top 100 return

Japanese wildcard Kei Nishikori edged out Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 3 seed, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the last eight of the Hong Kong Open at the Victoria Park Tennis Centre on Wednesday.

Nishikori, a former world No 4 and now ranked No 106, will return to the top 100 of the world rankings next week after facing a torrid time with injuries over the last few seasons.

“Yeah it does feel extra special,” said Nishikori as quoted by the ATP Tour website. “I just need to keep going. This will give me a lot of confidence for sure. It’s definitely my biggest win in a long time, over a year. I didn’t have a good start, I was shaky, missing a lot. I wasn’t sure how I could come back. I was a little bit lucky as he was up a break in the first two sets. Starting from the second set I felt better, and everything worked well in the end.”

In the first round, the 35-year-old Japanese won against Canadian Denis Shapovalov (6-2, 6-3) and he will now face Cameron Norrie next.

Hong Kong ATP 250, other second-round matches (Victoria Park Tennis Centre, hard, USD 766,290):

• Arthur Fils (4) beat Zizou Bergs (WC): 7-6 (7), 6-4
• Alexandre Muller beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (10)
• Cameron Norrie beat Lorenzo Sonego: 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
• Andrey Rublev vs. Fabian Marozsan
• Juncheng Shang vs. Pedro Martinez Portero
• Gabriel Diallo vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Nuno Borges vs. Jaume Munar

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