Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot, Carlos Berlocq, has been defeated by Kei Nishikori in the second round of the Australian Open 2013. Nishikori won the match in the straight sets by 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1.
Nishikori looked a bit rusty at the start, but, as the match progressed, he got into a very good rhythm and he looked majestic towards the end. He took 2 hours and 18 minutes to pull off the win and knock Berlocq out of the tournament.
The first couple of games of the opening set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 1-1 at the end of the second game. Berlocq gave Nishikori the first blow in the third game, but, he dropped his serve in the very next game and lost the advantage immediately.
Both the players held their service in the next six games and the scorecard was showing 5-5 at the end of the 10th game. In the 11th game, Nishikori managed to get ahead by 40-30 and he had a chance to break Berlocq’s service, but, the Argentinean didn’t let that happen. He saved the breakpoint and held his service to make the score 6-5. Nishikori served out the next game and the set went into the tie breaker.
Nishikori was off to a brilliant start in the tie breaker. He won the first three points in a row to take a lead of 3-0. He maintained that lead till the end and won the tie breaker by 7-4 to seal the first set.
In the second set, Nishikori didn’t have a very good start. Berlocq broke his service in the third game and then, held his service in the next game to take a lead of 3-1. But, thereafter, Nishikori made a brilliant comeback. He got breakthroughs in the fifth and the seventh game and won the next four games consecutively to take a lead of 5-3. Berlocq held his serve in the 9th game, but, that didn’t prove to be sufficient to stop Nishikori from winning the second set. The Japanese superstar served out the 10th game and won the second set.
In the final set, Nishikori was at the top of his game. He lost just one game in the third set and won it easily by 6-1 to finish off the match.
In the third round, Nishikori will take on the winner of the match between Mikhail Youzhny and Evgeny Donskoy.