A fine victory for Kei Nishikori – we’ll forget who said that he’d lose in the intro – and a dismal way for Stan Wawrinka to start the tournament. Nishikori played extremely well, while Wawrinka was far too erratic. That’s all from me for now. We’ll be back with coverage of Andy Murray v Marin Cilic later. Bye.
Kei Nishikori beats Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3!
Serving to stay in the match, Wawrinka looks in control at 30-0, only for two poor backhands to make it 30-all. Nishikori is two points from victory. He has a match point when Wawrinka splats a backhand slice into the net. Wawrinka misses a first serve by a fair old distance, before knocking a final sad backhand well past the baseline.
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Second set: Wawrinka 2-6, 3-5 Nishikori* (*denotes server): Nishikori is looking so confident here, making it 15-0 with a dainty drop shot. Wawrinka isn’t interested. He perks up a bit when he thinks a Nishikori ace was out, but his challenge is a waste of time. At 40-30, Wawrinka frames a backhand return high into the crowd, almost taking out the lights. He stands with his hands on his hips, unable to comprehend how poorly he’s played.
Second set: Wawrinka* 2-6, 3-4 Nishikori (*denotes server): Wawrinka hangs in there, holding to 30 with an ace, but he’s still got a mountain to climb.
Second set: Wawrinka 2-6, 2-4 Nishikori* (*denotes server): Nishikori holds to love, polishing off the game with an ace. He’s served extremely well. There doesn’t appear to be much life left in this match.
Second set: Wawrinka* 2-6, 2-3 Nishikori (*denotes server): Wawrinka is showing signs of knuckling down on serve, crunching into a 40-15 lead. Yet it’s deuce after two more missed forehands. These are awkward times for the Swiss, especially when he nets another break point, giving up the first break point of the second set. Wawrinka hammers a first serve down the middle and romps forward. Nishikori stretches and gets a racquet to it, more out of hope than expectation. Wawrinka looks back, confident he’s done enough. Or has he? The ball suddenly begins to fall and drops inside the left corner! Nishikori breaks.
Second set: Wawrinka 2-6, 2-2 Nishikori* (*denotes server): The first two points are shared, both players missing forehands. This is a sloppy game. From 40-15, Nishikori allows it to drift to deuce. Yet he holds on with a brilliant forehand winner and a solid body serve that jams Wawrinka, who’s yet to carve out a break point.
Second set: Wawrinka* 2-6, 2-1 Nishikori (*denotes server): Wawrinka winds up for a massive forehand down the line on the first point. Unfortunately someone’s gone and put a big net in the middle of the court. Rats! 0-15. The game goes to 30-all, though, and Wawrinka makes it 40-30 with an ace. “Come on, Stan, and again, come on,” shouts that fan. But it’s deuce when he hoicks a forehand long. He needs to concentrate here. He does. He holds.
Second set: Wawrinka 2-6, 1-1 Nishikori* (*denotes server): After losing the first three points with some careless tennis, Wawrinka finally remembers that he’s got a decent backhand and rips one down the line for 40-15. “Another one, Stan!” shouts a spectator, who’s left disappointed when Nishikori holds to 15.
Second set: Wawrinka* 2-6, 1-0 Nishikori (*denotes server): After a horrible first set from the world No3’s perspective, Wawrinka hints that he might be about to wake up by swerving an ace out wide for 15-0 and punching a volley away for 30-0. He holds to 15.
Kei Nishikori wins the first set 6-2!
Serving for the set, Nishikori begins magnificently, judging a clever Wawrinka lob perfectly and putting an overhead backhand away for 15-0. At 30-0, Nishikori reckons he’s served an ace, challenging the call from the line judge. Correction: challenging it correctly. It just clipped the line and here are three set points. Wawrinka tries to delay the end of the set with a flicked backhand from left to right, but Nishikori reads it and executes a backhand volley to perfection.
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First set: Wawrinka* 2-5 Nishikori (*denotes server): Wawrinka is playing some iffy tennis at the moment, a double-fault making it 0-30. He needs his head back in the game! He makes up for it with a huge forehand winner for 15-30, but gifts Nishikori two break points by netting a backhand. Another double-fault follows and Nishikori will serve for the set. Ouch.
First set: Wawrinka 2-4 Nishikori* (*denotes server): Hoping to consolidate that break, Nishikori starts well, showing fine control at the net to win the first point with some accomplished volleying. An ace makes it 30-0. He holds to 15, Wawrinka never in the game.
First set: Wawrinka* 2-3 Nishikori (*denotes server): The pair of them trade heavy blows from the baseline for a while, until Wawrinka miscues a backhand which loops well long to give Nishikori a 0-15 lead. He makes it 15-all and should win the next point too, only to push a volley wide with Nishikori stranded. At 15-30, Nishikori has another chance. But Wawrinka increases the aggression and takes control with a monstrous forehand. Nishikori’s defensive lob almost hits the big screen above the court. Soon Nishikori has a break point, as Wawrinka sends a volley long, but he can’t take it, disappointingly sending a backhand return long off a second serve. He gets another chance when Wawrinka tamely nets a forehand. The Swiss has been erratic and Nishikori punishes him this time, pounding a forehand into the left corner to soften Wawrinka up and advancing to rap another one into the opposite corner.
First set: Wawrinka 2-2 Nishikori* (*denotes server): There are plenty of empty seats this afternoon, which seems like a shame. I suppose that this tournament hasn’t necessarily offered much value for money in recent years, with most matches tending to last two matches, the losing player too often seemingly resigned to his fate. How to solve it? They often arrive in London exhausted after slogging through the year. Still, maybe this match could be a classic. Nishikori’s forehand is purring at times and it helps hoist him into a 40-15 lead. He holds with his first ace.
First set: Wawrinka* 2-1 Nishikori (*denotes server): Wawrinka cracking an ace down the middle for a 15-0 lead, the ball popping off his racquet satisfyingly. It’s the sound of excellence and he does it again for a 30-0 lead. After the kerfuffle in his first service game, this time he holds to love.
First set: Wawrinka 1-1 Nishikori* (*denotes server): Nishikori, looking smooth in his red shirt and black shorts, finds his range with his forehand to take control of this game, moving into a 30-0 lead without much of a fuss from Wawrinka. At 40-0, he appears to be well on his way towards a simple hold. Yet Wawrinka fights back, winning the next two points. Nishikori regains his focus, though, and holds to 30 with a calm volley.
First set: Wawrinka* 1-0 Nishikori (*denotes server): Stan Wawrinka opens the serving and get this, he misses a backhand on the first point. He never misses a backhand! He makes it all better with an ace, but another error makes it 15-30. This is a slow start from the No3, who’s facing two break points when he weakly nets a backhand. Nishikori can’t take either of them, though, missing the target with a couple of errant forehands, so that’s deuce. From there, Wawrinka holds.
“This should be another belter & we should get 3 sets out of these 2,” says John McEnerney. “Stan is The Man, once he’s on he’s pretty tough to get to grips with. Kei is a future champion for sure but he could do with a wise old head in his corner like Murray & Novak to make that step up on to the top of the podium.”
Tok! Tok! Tok! They’re knocking up.
It’s time for the toss! Stan Wawrinka wins it and chooses to serve first.
5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1! It’s time to set the atmosphere by pumping out some Dylan Thomas over the speakers. Lights are flashing. There’s music. Then comes the signature heart beat as Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka make their way through the corridors of the hallowed O2 Arena. Here they come!
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Here come the ball kids, then the umpire. We’re just waiting for the two players now. They’ll be with us in a minute.
Preamble
Hello. Andy Murray this, Novak Djokovic that. But don’t forget about Stan Wawrinka. You forget Stan Wawrinka at your peril. Amid a growing consensus that the days of the Big Four are coming to an end, with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal both nursing injuries that have kept them out of this tournament, the obvious assumption is that we are about to usher in a Murray-Djokovic duopoly at the top of the men’s game. But who cares if three’s a crowd? Wawrinka is the US Open champion, after all, a three-time grand slam champion and the world No3. No one wakes up in the morning and thinks “Yes, I really want to play Stan Wawrinka today”, unless they’re the world’s biggest Stan Wawrinka fan, a Stan Wawrinka shrine in their bedroom, a tattoo of his face on their chest.
I wonder if it’s annoying for Kei Nishikori to think that Wawrinka waited until he was 28 before winning his first major and has since built on that triumph in Australia in 2014 by adding the French and US Opens to his collection. Nishikori has been a fixture in the top 10 for a while – the man from Japan is the world No5 at the moment – and he made his debut in a grand slam final when he was in his early 20s. Although he lost the US Open final to Marin Cilic back in September 2014, Nishikori looked like a future champion when he beat Djokovic in their semi-final. Held back by inconsistency and fitness problems, though, he has not quite fulfilled that promise yet. He claimed bronze at the Olympics this year and beat Murray in five sets in their quarter-final at Flushing Meadows in September. Yet he lost his semi-final in four to Wawrinka, who went on to beat Djokovic.
There have been six matches between these two. Murray and Cilic are set to meet later today (this is the tough group). First, I fancy Wawrinka to beat Nishikori for the fifth time. I reserve the right to change my mind, though.
Play begins: around 2pm GMT.
