MONTREAL — Kei Nishikori rallied to beat Alex Michelsen 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday within the first spherical of Nationwide Financial institution Open, incomes his first victory in an ATP Masters 1000 occasion in three years.
The 2014 US Open runner-up from Japan has battled accidents lately and hadn’t gained a match in a Masters 1000 occasion, the extent under the 4 Grand Slam tournaments, since Indian Wells in 2021. He was a finalist within the Canadian event in 2016, falling to Novak Djokovic.
Nishikori will face No. 8 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas within the subsequent spherical.
One other oft-injured previous finalist in a Grand Slam event needed to withdraw when Canadian Milos Raonic pulled out earlier than his first-round match in opposition to No. 13 seed Holger Rune with a shoulder harm.
“I attempted to heat up for my match right now and the factor that was most troublesome was the serve. I do not assume I’d’ve been in a position to be aggressive by any means,” mentioned Raonic, who had felt ache in his shoulder over the previous 48 hours.
“I’ve had a whole lot of moments (in my profession) the place I have never been in a position to play, however I would say that is in all probability probably the most troublesome one. I have never performed right here in 5 years, and I do not know if I am going to ever come again to Montreal.”
Rune went on to beat Roberto Bautista Agut, who had misplaced within the ultimate spherical of qualifying, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Pablo Carreno Busta, the 2022 event champion, beat Fabian Marozsan 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-3 for his first ATP Tour victory for the reason that first spherical of the 2023 Australian Open. The Spanish participant was off the tour for 15 months due to an elbow harm.
Different first-round winners included No. 16 seed Karen Khachanov and Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
