Nishikori Overcomes Injury to Advance to Barcelona Quarters
After beating Roger Federer last month in Miami, Japan’s Kei Nishikori was forced to miss time with a groin injury. In his first tournament since the injury, Nishikori finds himself in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell after defeating Andrey Golubev in straight sets 6-0, 6-4.
He converted six of his 12 break points to capitalize on his opportunities. After sweeping the first set, Nishikori fell behind 4-1 in the second set and the match looked like it was destined for a third set. The Japan native than took control of the match, winning five straight games to clinch the victory.
“After the injury I had a good two weeks training,” said Nishikori. “Today was a difficult match for me. I was winning, playing perfectly in the first set and he was playing much better in the second. I was 4-1 down but I tried to keep concentrating.”
Nishikori will now move on to face the winner of Tommy Robredo and Marin Cilic for a chance to reach the semifinals.
After defeating David Ferrer in yesterday’s upset, Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili parlayed that into a victory over Inigo Cervantes 6-4, 6-2, to push his way into the quarterfinals. Gabashvili moves on to play Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, who clinched his spot in the quarterfinals by taking down Albert Montanes 7-5, 6-1.
Also playing in Barcelona on Thursday, Nicholas Almagro moved on to the quarterfinals when he defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3, in an all-Spanish showdown. Almagro has some unfinished business in Barcelona as he fell short in the championship match last year against his Spanish countryman Rafael Nadal. In the quarterfinals, Almagro will face the winner of Nadal’s match, who takes the court against Ivan Dodig later tonight.
