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SHANGHAI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sixth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan came back from one set down to defeat Nick Kyrgios of Australia 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and advanced into third round at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday.
Nishikori was deeply troubled by Kyrgios' big serve and lost the opening set in just 30 minutes, but finally found a way out in the remaining time before securing the victory in almost two hours.
Kyrgios fired 19 aces to just five from the Japanese, but made more unforced errors.
"I thought I started really well. He probably started a little bit slow. But I served well in the first set," said Kyrgios.
"He's the best returner I've ever played to this day. He's got unbelievable returns. I wasn't giving him too much rhythm. He just stuck to his guns, he just kept making me play extra balls," he added.
With the big serve, Kyrgios stormed to 5-0 in just 17 minutes after breaking Nishikori twice. The Japanese managed to hold serve for the first time in the sixth game, but could not stop Kyrgios from taking the next game for the first set win.
The second set saw a different Nishikori, who played solid on serve and put his opponent under more pressure, while the 20-year-old Australian, who still fired aces easily, made more unforced errors. Capitalizing on some sloppy play from Kyrgios in the tenth game, the Jananese had a decisive break to level the match at 6-4.
The third set was more like a replay of the second set as both players held serve until the 10th game where the Japanese broke and won at 6-4 again.
"I didn't have the best start to this match today," said Nishikori. "But I knew if I could take the ball early a little bit more in the second set, try to be a little more patient. My serve wasn't going in, especially in the beginning. I had three double faults in the first game. I knew my serve was one of the reasons I wasn't doing well."
"My serve went well in the second and third sets. I tried to be a little more aggressive. He was hitting big serves. But I was returning well at the same time. So I think it was a good match for my first match."
