By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, May 7, 2018
Two-time champion Novak Djokovic punished Kei Nishikori's second serve in a 7-5, 6-4 victory to reach the Madrid Open second round.
Photo credit: Barcelona Open BancSabadell
The first round was the final stop for Novak Djokovic in three of his last four tournaments.
Today, Djokovic was in no mood for false starts.
Watch: Madrid Musings
The two-time champion punished Kei Nishikori's second serve in a 7-5, 6-4 victory that sent the Serbian into the Mutua Madrid Open second round.
In a blockbuster rematch of the 2016 Madrid semifinals, Djokovic won 20 of 35 points played on Nishikori's second serve and broke three times in a one hour, 58-minute victory.
It was Djokovic's first win on dirt since he beat Borna Coric in the Monte-Carlo second round last month and his first Top 20 victory since defeating Gael Monfils at the 2017 Eastbourne.
"We played semifinals a couple of years ago, 2016 in Madrid, and finals a couple of times in Masters Series events," Djokovic told Alex Corretja in his on-court interview afterward. "Kei is a great player—one of the best players in the world the last six or seven years.
"Obviously he's struggled a little bit with injuries—me too—so the draw was such we had to face in the first round, which is a bit strange. But it was a great opening match."
The former world No. 1 advanced to a second-round match with either Kyle Edmund or Daniil Medvedev.
It would be overstating the case to call Djokovic's opener a critical match, but it was vital start to what will be a critical month. Djokovic is defending 1,320 ranking points starting this month—360 points in Madrid and Roland Garros and 600 points in Rome where he was 2017 runner-up to Alexander Zverev—and knows he must start stringing together wins now.
When adversity struck the Serbian today, Djokovic always had an answer.
Nishikori scored the first break for a 3-2 lead; Djokovic broke right back in the sixth game.
When Djokovic slapped point-blank smash into net prompting a collective groan from fans midway through the second set, he shrugged it off firing a service winner and ace to hold. Djokovic denied five of six break points he faced against one of the sport's premier returners.
Fifty-five minutes into the match, Nishikori made a stand saving two set points. Djokovic misfired on successive forehands, including a wild miss on a forehand down the line, as the Japanese leveled after 10 games.
A mis-hit forehand followed by a backhand dragged wide gave Djokovic a third set point.
This time, Nishikori missed his first serve and Djokovic made him pay severely.
Slashing a diagonal forehand return winner, Djokovic screamed in celebration snatching the 67-minute first set.
Treating his opponent's second serve as if it were a piñata, Djokovic won 15 of 23 points played on Nishikori's second serve.
Serving at 3-all in the second set, Djokovic badly bungled that smash, but came right with ripping his two best serves of the match to hold.
On the ensuing changeover, Djokovic complained to the chair umpire there was no reason for the bright lights to be on with plenty of daylight.
"What is the problem? Shut the lights!" Djokovic implored.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion showed signs of illumination extending his dominance of Nishikori.
When Nishikori sent a final backhand beyond the baseline, Djokovic was through to round two improving to 6-5 on the season.