You never know what you are going to find on the other side of the net when you play Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard has a huge firepower that make him dangerous against anyone on tour, but he can also have one of those days when he misses shots after shots.
Kei Nishikori had to face this incognita in the third round in Miami. After winning a tough opener, the Japanese had a solid 7-6 5-3 lead, but Verdasco refused to surrender to break Kei and bring the match to the decider. The third set was extremely even in the first part; the key was when Nishikori broke the Spaniard in the 4th game (3-1) after a fierce battle. From that moment, Fernando disappeared to win just 3 points in the following three games. Nishikori won 7-6(2) 6-7 (5) 6-1 in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
#nishikori #verdasco #round3 #MiamiOpen #1st set ( YouTube ) pic.twitter.com/V1COFTSkkH
— Phil (@tennis_phil) March 26, 2017
It was a tough match. NISHIKORI
After winning this battle, Kei commented
“I knew it’s going to be a tough one, Fernando is a very solid player. He has a great serve and great groundstrokes. I knew it was going to be long rallies.
But it was a shame when I was up a break in both first and second sets, and both went to 7-6. That was something I made some mistakes when I was up a break. But in the third set, I was very focused. Even though the first and second were tough, I was trying to play with more energy, and I think everything was working well in the third. It was a tough one, but I’m very happy to win today.”
Next vs. Delbonis
Kei will play Federico Delbonis for a place in the quarters. The head to head is 1-0 for Nishikori, but that match was played six years ago on clay. This is going to be completely different.
| JAPANESE FIGHTER |
