Kei Nishikori defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas, Davidovich Fokina upsets Daniil Medvedev | ATP Tour

Match Report

Nishikori stuns Tsitsipas, Foki flooring Medvedev

Nakashima upsets Paul

August 08, 2024

Kei Nishikori earned his first Prime 20 win since 2021 on Thursday on the Omnium Banque Nationwide présenté par Rogers in Montreal, the place he upset World No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to achieve the third spherical at ATP Masters 1000 stage for the primary time in three years.

The Japanese lefty, at the moment No. 576 within the PIF ATP Rankings, rolled again the years with a powerful show in opposition to Tsitsipas to develop into the third lowest-ranked participant to achieve the final 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 occasion because the sequence started in 1990.

“It means rather a lot,” Nishikori mentioned after reaching the third spherical. “I’m taking part in effectively and feels I’m again on monitor once more, so I’m actually proud of the best way I performed right this moment.”

Nishikori gained 92 per cent (11/12) of internet factors and 60 per cent (9/15) of factors on Tsitsipas’ second-serve, based on Infosys ATP Stats, to advance after simply 79 minutes on the hard-court occasion.

“Beating Stef just isn’t straightforward and for me it’s a nice win,” Nishikori added. “I stayed aggressive and was not lacking too many balls right this moment. It was significantly better than the primary spherical.”

The 2016 finalist, making his ninth look on the Canadian Masters 1000 event, will subsequent face Twelfth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert or Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

Nishikori is a 12-time tour-level titlist and rose to a career-high No. 4 within the PIF ATP Rankings in 2015. The 34-year-old has been suffering from accidents in recent times and previous to Tuesday’s win in opposition to Alex Michelsen, had not earned a victory at ATP Masters 1000 stage since Indian Wells in 2021.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina additionally scored a serious upset when he overcame World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev for simply his third Prime 5 win.

The Spaniard fired 24 winners en path to a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 triumph in opposition to 2021 champion Medvedev. Along with his one-hour, 56-minute win, Davidovich Fokina improved to 1-4 within the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head sequence.

The 25-year-old, who reached the semi-finals on the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 occasion final 12 months in Toronto, will subsequent play Karen Khachanov or Matteo Arnaldi.

Medvedev was competing in his first hard-court match since he reached the semi-finals in Miami in March. The 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champ, who’s fourth within the PIF ATP Dwell Race To Turin, continues to be searching for his first title since Could 2023 when he gained in Rome.

In a lunchtime of upsets, American qualifier Brandon Nakashima defeated countryman Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1 to achieve the third spherical at a Masters 1000 occasion for the second time.

The 2022 Subsequent Gen ATP Finals offered by PIF champion saved each break factors he confronted, hit 26 winners and simply 11 unforced errors to seal his win after two hours and 14 minutes.

Nakashima holds a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head document in opposition to Paul, having additionally earned wins in opposition to the tenth seed in 2022 and 2023. Nakashima will subsequent play fifth seed Andrey Rublev or Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Paul’s early exit means he missed the prospect to climb within the PIF ATP Dwell Race To Turin. The American is tenth within the Dwell Race To Turin and 150 factors behind eighth-placed Tsitsipas, who occupies the ultimate qualification spot. Paul is 34-13 on the season and has clinched crowns in Dallas and Queen’s Membership.