This content was published 8 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.
Kei Nishikori is a man in relative form, making the semi-finals in Madrid last week, before he went down to a semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. But despite a difficult opening match at the Foro Italico, he has high hopes at the Italian Open.
The Japanese sixth seed needed three sets before he got the better of Viktor Trocki to make the third round 5-7 6-2 6-3.
“After the first set I tried to step in a little more, and I think in the first set I wasn’t aggressive enough to keep him moving side to side,” said the 26-year-old. “I think second and third I start hitting much better backhand, started playing angle, down the line, and everything worked well after first set.
“Tennis-wise I’m happy what I’m doing. I think I’m serving well and returning well. I just need to make some adjustment on little things to get little more better on clay. If I can keep it up, I think I will have a good chance here.”
Tomas Berdych was another seed that progressed in more comfortable fashion to Nishikori. The Czech beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 6-4.
But Stan Wawrinka had to survive a scare, coming back after losing the first set 7-5 to beat Benoit Paire in the final set 6-1.
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