Japan's Nishikori batlles through to Australian Open round 4

Kei Nishikori is hoping his ongoing wrist problem won't slow him down at the Australian Open after he needed treatment before beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to set up a revenge mission against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday.
The Japanese seventh seed was forced into four sets before subduing the experienced Spaniard 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, 48 minutes after the roof was closed for rain on Margaret Court Arena.

Nishikori has had problems in the past with his right wrist and also had surgery on his right elbow in August 2009, which kept him out until April 2010.

On Friday, he needed a medical timeout for treatment on the same wrist after winning the opening set, but he said the pain eased during the match.

"I had it two years ago. I need to tape my wrist because I have some issue there. So maybe it's come back a little bit, but should be okay for next one," Nishikori told reporters.

"It was little bit sore in the beginning, but after the treatment it was fine."
Nishikori said injuries were becoming less of a problem for him after he stepped up his training to become stronger and reduce the strain on his joints.

"Actually it's less and less every year. I'm a little more positive than a few years ago," he said.

"You cannot stop getting injuries. I don't think it's gonna happen to me. I try to have good treatment and good training during the tour to try to have less injuries. Try to be healthy all the time."

- Tsonga time -

Nishikori had his work cut out to get on top of Garcia-Lopez, who reached the fourth round in Melbourne last year where he lost to Stan Wawrinka
"It was a really tough match. I lost the second set easily, so it was tough mentally but I stayed calm and tried to concentrate again and I started to play much better in the last set," Nishikori said.

"He was serving really well and that's why I couldn't return well and I didn't serve quite well at that stage, but I started to play better."

The 2014 US Open finalist will face former finalist Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round.

"He's going to be tough opponent. We played last year in the French Open (quarter-finals) and I almost came back, but he raised his level in the fifth set," Nishikori said.

"It was really tough loss for me, so I hope I can get revenge here. I have been playing good, giving me a lot of confidence, so it's going to be a good match."

With the win, Nishikori successfully came through his first real examination of this year's tournament, with his serve broken three times by the Spaniard.

The Japanese star had not dropped a set to Garcia-Lopez in two previous meetings, but that changed in the second set.

Nishikori incurred more errors than winners (38 to 33) but he powered to victory in the fourth set.

The Spaniard received a code violation from the chair umpire for coaching from his player's box during the final set.

Nishikori's best results at the Australian Open are two quarter-final appearances in 2012 and last year, making him the only Japanese man to reach the tournament's last eight in the Open era.
Source :AFP