Had no luck Albert Ramos in his confrontation with Kei Nishikori, but it will not be because he did not seek it. In a match marked by equality, The Japanese knew how to take advantage of the opportunities he had in the decisive moments and chose the duel in his favor for 6-4 and 7-6 (3) in more than two hours of meeting.
This Monday is the Nishikori's first victory in an official tournament in over a year, as he had not won since August 28, 2019, when he defeated Klahn in the second round of the US Open. Since then, the Japanese left the slopes for a elbow operation. When tennis was coming back Nishikori tested positive for coronavirus, thus missing Cincinnati and the US Open. He returned a week ago in Kitzbühel, where he was eliminated at the first exchange by the Serbian Kecmanovic.
Now, 30-year-old Nishikori is scoring victory over a very good Albert Ramos, who gave the Japanese a lot of headaches, moving him around the track. Both players were very solid with their serve. Nishikori could only win one of the nine break balls he had, while Ramos wasted the two he got. In this way, The 32-year-old Catalan says goodbye in the first round of the Masters 1000 in Rome, tournament on their favorite surface (reached the final in Monaco in 2017), while Nishikori is already waiting for the winner of the Wawrinka-Musetti.
Davidovich and Martínez, to the final table
The Malaga-born Alejandro Davidovich and Pedro Martínez have passed the preliminary phase of the Masters 1,000 in Rome after beating the French Corentin Moutet, and the Slovak Andrej Martin, respectively.
Davidovich has beaten Moutet, 6-1 and 6-2 and Martinez over Martin, 6-3 and 6-2.
This Monday, in addition to the last round of the qualifying phase, the first round of the main draw is played, with Albert Ramos' debut against the Japanese Kei Nishikori, and Aliona Bolsava, in the WTA tournament, against the American Alison Riske.