Nishikori escapes early elimination in Barcelona: “I don’t know how I fought through”

Former world No 4 Kei Nishikori surprised himself as he survived a major scare to advance at the Barcelona Open on Monday.

Barcelona Open: Draw | Order of Play | News 

Nishikori trailed Guido Pella 6-4, 4-2 before rallying to a 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win, the two-time champion breaking serve on three occasions in the final set en route to the second round.

“He had the match today at 6-5, serving (for the match),” Nishikori said. “He was much better in the first and second and 3-0 up in the tiebreak. I don’t know how I fought through. Third set, I was playing much better. I was making so many unforced errors in the first and second. Maybe he got a little bit tired and I was playing strong in the third set. I want to take that to the next round… The way I fought today and the way I played in the third set was good.”

Making it look easy @keinishikori | @bcnopenbs pic.twitter.com/LQnQQBviTG

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 19, 2021

Next up for 2014 US Open finalist Nishikori is 13th seed Cristian Garin.

Ilya Ivashka topped Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-1 and the qualifier’s reward is a showdown with top seed and 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

Cameron Norrie, Pablo Andujar, Jeremy Chardy, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Jaume Munar, Federico Gaio, Egor Gerasimov and Bernabe Zapata Miralles all advanced to the last 32.

Krajinovic and Millman power through in Belgrade

At the Serbia Open, seeds Filip Krajinovic and John Millman booked their spots in the round of 16.

With the ATP 250 tournament being staged for the first time since 2012 and headlined by world No 1 , Serbian fifth seed Krajinovic overcame Stefano Travaglia 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a Belgrade rollercoaster.

😳😤

New racket, please.

@SerbiaOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/YdeWCI7NNE

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 19, 2021

Millman – the Australian seventh seed – took down local wildcard Danilo Petrovic 7-5, 6-4 as Marco Cecchinato and Nikola Milojevic won through.