• 33-year-old Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori (#439) beat Australian Jordan Thompson (#63) 7:6 (5), 7:6 (5) in the first round of the Atlanta tournament.
• In the first set, the Japanese did not use five break points, winning the tiebreak with only the third set point, but in the second set, he did not realize two break opportunities, winning the match with the first match point.
• In the second round, the Japanese opponent will be the winner of the pair of American Ben Shelton (#41) and Chinese Yunzheng Sheng (#156).
• Nishikori was protected at the main event in Atlanta due to ranking.
• Kei Nishikori played his first ATP-level match in less than 21 months. In October 2021, the Japanese lost to the British Daniel Evans in the second round of Indian Wells.
• Nishikori returned to the tennis court in mid-June, competing on the Challenger level tour. Already in the first tournament in Puerto Rico, the Japanese triumphed, losing only one set in the entire course, but in the next two tournaments in the USA, he suffered failures.
Right back at it 💫@keinishikori is triumphant on his return to the tour, defeating Thompson in two tense tiebreaks to reach R2 in Atlanta!@ATLOpenTennis pic.twitter.com/MWd2BQCdaz
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 25, 2023
• There in Atlanta, in a duel between two attractive tennis players, Tanasi Kokinakis (#86) won the third set tiebreak over the experienced Frenchman Gael Monfils (#322), who entered the competition thanks to a wildcard – 1:6, 6:3, 7:6 (5).
• In the third set tiebreak, Monfils blew a four-point lead. Kokinakis finished the match with seven wins out of the last eight games.
• In the second round, the Australian faces a duel against his compatriot Alex De Minor, who was seeded second in Atlanta and was free from the first round.
• Due to rain, only two matches were played at the ATP250 level tournament in the Croatian city of Umag. Hungarian Sombor Piros (#124) defeated Australia’s Christopher O’Connell (#68) in two sets – 6:3, 6:4, while Italian talent Mateo Arnaldi (#76) overcame the resistance of Dutchman Jesper De Jong (#180) – 6:3, 6:2.
2023-07-25 19:18:29
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