By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday August 8, 2024
34-year-old Kei Nishikori became the lowest ranked player to reach the round of 16 at a Masters event since 2004.
Photo Source: TTV
The road back from injury hasn’t been easy for former World No.4 Kei Nishikori, but the 34-year-old is making it look easy this week in Montreal.
Nishikori, ranked 576, upset 11th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the round of 16 at the National Bank Open in Montreal, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday. The Japanese star becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach the last 16 at a Masters 1000 since 2004 with his win, as he records his first Top-20 win since the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.
"I think I'm still on the way to coming back 100 percent," Nishikori said. "I still not expecting playing great tennis every match. You know, I think there is going to be many up and downs still. Today I did really well, but hopefully I can stay playing like today. It's been a long time."
“Beating Stef is not easy and for me it is a great win,” said the 2016 Montreal runner up. “I stayed aggressive and was not missing too many balls today. It was much better than the first round.”
Nishikori defeated Alex Michelsen in the first round at Montreal – it was his first victory at a Masters 1000 in over three years.
"It was great win," he said. "Those two matches that I won for sure will give me some confidence, especially because I played really bad last week in Olympics."
It wasn’t the only upset on Thursday in Montreal.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina toppled third-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 for his first victory over the Russian star in five tries, while Brandon Nakashima took out 10th-seeded Tommy Paul, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1.
All 16 second round matches will be contested today in Montreal.