By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Kei Nishikori fought off four set points in the opening set, rallying for a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) victory over Steve Johnson to reach the Indian Wells fourth round.
Photo credit: Matt Hazlett/BNP Paribas Open
The Indian Wells Tennis Garden has presented a thorny patch of problems for Kei Nishikori.
Bothered by the shoulder-high bounce off the gritty BNP Paribas Open court, Nishikori suffered four first-round exits and had won successive main-draw matches just once as he took the court today.
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Nishikori relied on his problem-solving skills—and the benevolence of Steve Johnson, who blew four set points in the first set tie breaker—to post a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) comeback win and reach the fourth round for the second straight year.
"Obviously it's not easy with these conditions windy and the ball and altitude, everything," Nishikori told the media. "It's tough to expect great tennis here, but I thought I was patient today and had a good first match. Obviously, you know, it's not easy, but I have been playing good tennis these two matches and having confidence winning today, too."
The fifth-seeded Japanese will play ninth-seeded American John Isner for a quarterfinal spot. Isner won all 34 points played on his first serve and did not face a break point defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Isner permitted just four points on serve in the match.
"The key will be on the return," Nishikori said. "My return, it's going to be the key, for sure. I have to return well. I couldn't really step in today, so I tried to play more aggressive tomorrow, and, you know, try to be patient. He's a big guy and I think I have more advantage on my groundstrokes, so try to use more forehands and play more aggressive."
Alexander Zverev pounded Gilles Simon, 6-2, 6-2. The German teenager will face either Rafael Nadal or Fernando Verdasco next. The 18-year-old Zverev, who has bounced back after his Davis Cup debut against the Czech Republic, said he's been training to get stronger.
"I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me still. I'm not done yet," Zverev said. "I'm still building my body. I know that I have to get much more fitter to really be able to compete in Grand Slams and in big tournaments against the big guys. So, you know, it's all the work in process, and I'm happy where I am right now. But I'm still far away from where I want to be."
The top four Americans—Johnson, Isner, Jack Sock and Sam Querrey—began the day playing for a spot in the round of 16.
The 30th-seeded Johnson, who had dropped seven of eight sets to Nishikori, cranked his kick serve to displace his opponent and crunched his forehand with authority racing out to a 5-3 lead. He served for the first set, but Nishikori broke back, eventually forcing the tie breaker.
Playing bolder tennis at the start of the breaker, Johnson drilled a forehand winner down the line for 4-1. Nishikori's first double fault of the day followed by another twisting kick serve from the former all-American gave Johnson four set points.
Then he lost track of the court.
Johnson, who had been so diligent with his footwork dancing around his weaker backhand wing to unload forehands, committed three straight backhand errors. On his fourth set point, Johnson again moved Nishikori off court with the kicker, but brain-cramped with an ill-advised drop shot wide.
Punishing a return, Nishikori earned his first set point and when Johnson floated a slice backhand long, the 2014 US Open finalist swiped a set that seemed long gone minutes earlier.
Swinging more freely and finding his opponent's backhand more frequently, Nishikori hammered a diagonal backhand winner to break for a 5-3 second-set lead, prompting a stewing Johnson to launch a ball into the stands and tap his racquet against the back wall.
That bit of stress relief helped his cause. A couple of sloppy errors from Nishikori put him in a break-point bind and when he steered a forehand volley wide, Johnson was back on serve.
Snapping off a smash to back up the break at love, Johnson reeled off eight of the last night points leveling at 5-all.
Meticulous footwork, precise strikes off both wings and impeccable timing are all assets Nishikori applied in the tie breaker. A tremendous running forehand crosscourt set up a forehand down the line gave Nishikori a 4-2 edge. A biting slider serve brought him to triple match point. Nishikori closed with a bounce smash to reach the round of 16 for the second straight year.
Bidding for his first career Top 10 win, Johnson came agonizingly close to taking the opening set, but stumbled on pivotal points dropping to 0-11 vs. Top 10 opponents.