Nishikori kicks off World Tour Finals with win over Murray

Kei Nishikori said after qualifying for the World Tour Finals that he would undoubtedly be nervous for his first-ever appearance at the year-end championship. He sure didn’t play like it in his opening match on Sunday afternoon.

Nishikori looked like the veteran against six-time tournament qualifier Andy Murray in a 6-4, 6-4 victory that kicked off round-robin action in Group B. Dictating play on a consistent basis, the world No. 5 prevailed in one hour and 35 minutes.


After Nishikori battled back from a break down to steak the first set, he almost had the tables turned on him in the second. An apparent turning point came when Murray saved three break points–one in miraculous fashion–to hold while already trailing 3-0. The sixth-ranked Scot promptly evened things at 4-4, but success was short-lived as Nishikori held for 5-4 then broke serve with relative easy to clinch victory.

Implementing his typically aggressive tactics while playing right on top of the baseline, Nishikori made his way into net 15 times compared to three for Murray. Whereas Murray’s drop-shot was a disaster, Nishikori often used it to great effect with his opponent pushed well behind the baseline. The eventual winner also dominated rallies of more than nine shots, winning 12 such point to Murray’s five.

“The court is the same as Paris, so I was a little bit used to [it],” Nishikori explained. “But the stadium is huge. Maybe when I walked into the stadium, I was nervous. But (at the) same time I was really excited to play with this crowd. I was…honored to be here. I was really happy that I played good tennis [in] this situation.”

“You’re competing against the best players in the world,” Murray reflected. “And Kei is obviously playing well just now, so I knew that [losing in straight sets] was a possibility. But it’s still obviously disappointing to lose the first match. Yeah, I would have liked to have done better.”