Nishikori has another great escape to reach third round

Friday, 18 January 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Japan's Kei Nishikori celebrates winning the match against Croatia's Ivo Karlovic - REUTERS

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Kei Nishikori made another great escape at the Australian Open on Thursday, surviving a second five-set battle and 59 aces from Ivo Karlovic to squeeze into the third round.

The Japanese eighth seed was lucky just to be facing the big-serving Croat, having been two sets down in his opener against qualifier Kamil Majchrzak before the Pole suffered muscle cramping and retired mid-way through the fifth.

Against Karlovic, however, Nishikori squandered a two-set lead before closing out a tense tiebreak to prevail 6-3 7-6(6) 5-7 5-7 7-6(7) on a sweltering day at Margaret Court Arena.

The first Asian man to ever contest a Grand Slam final, Nishikori joked that Karlovic served as many aces in the match as he would manage in a year.

Having watched the ball fly past him 59 times from serving machine Karlovic, Nishikori closed out the match with two big first serves of his own, both down the ‘T’, to set up a clash with unseeded Portuguese Joao Sousa.

A three-times quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park, Nishikori will hope to ride the wave of support from the army of travelling Japanese fans who chanted his name throughout the Karlovic match.

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