Mens Tennis Forums banner

Kei's come back trail continues in Tallahassee!

3K views 44 replies 12 participants last post by  DanaKz 
#1 ·
#2 ·
From facebook three hours ago:

driving to Tallahassee...Glenny driving....me sleeping:)

:lol:
 
#4 ·
Hi Minh, nice to see you here! :D
 
#5 ·
OOP for Monday:

STADIUM
10 a.m.
Bobby REYNOLDS (USA) vs Tim SMYCZEK (USA)

Not before 12 noon
Carsten BALL (AUS) vs Donald YOUNG (USA)
Kei NISHIKORI (JPN) vs Jesse LEVINE (USA)

Not before 5 p.m.
Alex KUZNETSOV (USA) vs Taylor DENT (USA)

Not before 6 p.m.
Rajeev RAM (USA)/Travis RETTENMAIER (USA) vs Vahid MIRZADEH (USA)/Connor SMITH (USA)
Robby GINEPRI (USA) vs Ryler DEHEART (USA)

Good luck, Kei! :yeah:
 
#10 ·
Apparently Kei was a break up in the second set but Levine levelled the set at 5-5, and then overturned the tiebreak after Kei went 5-2 up! He also had numerous break points in the third set but couldn't break Levine.
Very glad Kei won...would have been a big disappointment if he lost this one!

It's compatriot Tatsuma Ito next. Good luck! ;)
 
#13 ·
6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(4) ;)
 
#17 ·
indeed a close one - with the score - it could have gone either way

fortunately it went Kei and us way :)

Bunny - so how do Tatsuma play? Do you think Kei knows him well?
It seems they are good friends. Ito is 21, going to be 22 in May, and is 180 cm tall. He is currently ranked #256, and his career high ranking so far was #201 in March this year. I've never seen him play but he cites FH and serve as his favourite shots....though I read somewhere serve is not his strong point...

Nice to see two asian players playing each other!
:yeah:
 
#15 ·
What a relief, i really want to see Kei do well.
 
#23 ·
Here's the tournament's Twitter.
http://twitter.com/USTAChallenger
(Not very reliable though.)

Here's and article about Kei's first round on Tallahassee.com. :)

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/...et-of-Levine-in-Tallahassee-Tennis-Challenger

Nishikori pulls off upset of Levine in Tallahassee Tennis Challenger
By St. Clair Murraine • Democrat Staff Writer • April 20, 2010

His hair ruffled and his face reddened, Kei Nishikori walked off the court at Forestmeadows hoping he wouldn't have endure another afternoon like he did Monday in the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger.

For 2 hours and 45 minutes, the 20-year-old Japanese was pushed to the point that his hands were trembling near the end of the first-round match. Levine turned away Nishikori in the second set to force the first of two tiebreakers before falling 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3).
By making the fifth-seeded Levine the first seed to fall, Nishikori moves into a Wednesday match against Tatsuma Ito, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Luka Gregorc.
Nishikori, on a comeback after having surgery on his elbow last year, found himself in his third marathon match in a week after going for more than two twice last week in Baton Rouge.
As much as lengthy matches are becoming his forte, Nishikori didn't seem to relish this one too much.
"No. Hopefully I can finish earlier," he said.
He had his chance to put away Levine but couldn't hold his serve. A series of unforced errors and Levine's insistence on making it a battle from the baseline denied Nishikori. Levine won the next point on his way to taking the tiebreaker.
At that point, Glen Weiner, once a regular here before he retired three years ago and is now coaching Nishikori, became concerned. For everything that his protege offered up, Levine seemed to find an answer.
Nishikori said his concentration was beginning to wane as they entered the third set.
"Jesse is a top-100 player and in this match I could see he was right at that stage where if he played a little better he'd make a little run, get some confidence and make some noise in this tournament," Weiner said. "He was a little bit streakier than he would have like. He hit some great ball, but I'm sure he'd say he made some unforced errors at the wrong time."
Nishikori capitalized on most of them, especially those in the final set. As long as the match lasted, it was a little bit more than he wanted while trying work his way back into the top 60 rankings.
He was on his way to the top two years ago after winning the ATP Delray Beach stop, then reaching the round of 16 at the U.S. Open in 2008. His ranking dropped as he tried to play through an injured elbow that required surgery.
He came here with a protected ranking status, which he has for five more tournaments without affecting his current 106 ranking.
Shortly after knocking off Levine, he admitted that there is still plenty of work to be done, although he saw progress in since his first comeback match in February.
"I've got to get the feeling back," he said. "There are many things I can practice, but I've got to play the match to get rid of nervousness and tightness. It's going well now."

===============
Looks like it was a really tough match! Hope Kei will have an easier time against Ito.
 
#24 ·
===============
Looks like it was a really tough match! Hope Kei will have an easier time against Ito.
I was just about to post the same news Bunny! Anyway im glad you did :angel::)

Yeah its his third 3 setter in a row. But at lease he is getting more match experience, i think that would help him in the long run.

I certainly hope so Bunny - a straight set win this time would be great! :wavey:
 
#25 ·
OOP for Wednesday.
His match will start in about 2 hours and 30 minutes! :D

STADIUM
Matches Start At: 10:00 am

Tatsuma ITO (JPN) vs Kei NISHIKORI (JPN)
Robert KENDRICK (USA) vs Chris GUCCIONE (AUS)
Go SOEDA (JPN) vs Ryan SWEETING (USA) (postponed on Tuesday)
Bobby REYNOLDS (USA) vs Alex KUZNETSOV (USA)
Rajeev RAM (USA) vs Tobias KAMKE (GER)
Joshua GOODALL (GBR) vs Go SOEDA (JPN) or Ryan SWEETING (USA)

Wow three Japanese on Centre Court!
 
#27 ·
Kei 4-3*
 
#28 ·
Bet365 has livescore if anybody's interested.

30-30...game point Ito...deuce...! ...adv. Ito...4-4

And while my PC froze, Ito has BP on Kei's serve, 30-40. :(

And all of a sudden it's 6-4 to Ito. :shrug:
 
#29 ·
I can't stay much longer coz Juan Carlos' match will start in Barcelona. (Sorry, Kei!)
Win the next two sets, OK!
 
#30 ·
Kei took the second set 6-4.
He served for the set 5-3, but was broken back and then broke Ito's serve again to go into the decider.

The third set went with serve until 3-2 and then Kei broke for *4-2!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top