By Chris Oddo | Sunday, November 9, 2014
Kei Nishikori notched his first win in four career matches over Andy Murray, triumphing 6-4, 6-4 to move to the top of the Group B table in London.
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Nerves were apparent from the onset of today’s opening singles match between Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, but Nishikori found his form when he needed it while Murray fizzled at the conclusion of each set.
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In the end it added up to a convincing 6-4, 6-4 victory for Japan’s Nishikori in his maiden match at the prestigious year-end championships, and a disappointing one for Murray, who had built so much momentum in the week’s leading up to London.
“I was a little bit tight in the beginning, but then I started to feel really well,” Nishikori said after the match. “The second set was almost perfect. I played a good serve and big forehand.”
After tossing in an ugly double-fault to gift Murray the opening break in the fifth game of the first set, Murray would kindly return the favor with a double fault of his own in the next game.
With Nishikori taking over the match in terms of court positioning in the later stages of the first set, the 24-year-old would set up two set points for himself with a crushed second-serve return in the tenth game.
When Murray dumped a dropper into the net on the next point, Nishikori had the lead.
The story of the set was Murray’s inability to take advantage of Nishikori’s 40 percent first-serve percentage and the Scot’s unwillingness to move into the court aggressively.
Nishikori took advantage of Murray’s passive approach in both sets, and dictated points from the baseline while Murray retreated and defended.
“I knew he’s very consistent from the baseline, so I had to be more aggressive than usual,” Nishikori would say of his play.
After immediately falling behind in the second set, Murray would mount a brief rally to break back and eventually level at 4-all, but Nishikori once again engineered a late charge in Murray’s final service game.
With his back against the wall and facing three match points Murray would falter on the first, sailing a shoddy backhand well long to send Japan’s rising star to the top of the table in London.
Notes, Numbers, Tweets
Nishikori, the highest-ranked Asian player in ATP history, is the first singles player from his continent to play in the ATP World Tour Finals.
Nishikori’s win is the first in four career matches with Murray. He had lost all seven of their previous sets.