Local favourite Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Sam Querrey on Wednesday.
Second-seeded Nishikori set up match point with a blistering backhand down the line and won with a forehand smash, securing his third straight win in seven matches against the unseeded Querrey.
French Open champion and top seed Stan Wawrinka avenged last year’s opening round defeat to Tatsuma Ito, by beating the 116th—ranked Japanese 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to book his place in the quarterfinals.
The 25-year-old Nishikori, who is bidding for his third Japan Open title, has now reached the quarterfinals or better at 13 of his past 16 tournaments.
There were no break point opportunities in the first set, and Nishikori won five of the first six points in the tie-break.
The sixth-ranked Nishikori broke Querrey to go up 2-1 in the second set and never let his opponent back in the match.
Cilic outlasted Donald Young 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in a first round match.
Third-seeded Gilles Simon of France also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. Simon will face Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) winner over Jeremy Chardy of France.
