Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori reached the Olympic tennis tournament second round Saturday but India’s Leander Paes’s seventh Games ended in a bitter first round loss.
Nishikori, a quarter-finalist at the 2012 Olympics, breezed past Spanish left-hander Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-4 in just 79 minutes.
Fittingly, a Brazilian umpire Carlos Bernardes was in the chair for the first match on center court and Nishikori rose to the occasion, taking the opening set in just 33 minutes, breaking in the third and seventh games.
Ramos-Vinolas, who made the French Open quarterfinals this year, must have realized it was not to be his day in the second game of the second set.
Nishikori allowed his racquet to fly from his hand but still won the point as he scrambled to retrieve it before unleashing a winner past the bemused Ramos-Vinolas.
The crucial break of the set came in the ninth game before Nishikori served out for victory.
“Usually I would give up the point when I lose the racquet but not this time,” said Nishikori.
“I saw that I had a chance to win the point, so I hung in there.”
Nishikori said the court conditions in Rio are a lot slower than Toronto where he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic last week.
“I have to make a lot of adjustments. I just have to feel comfortable as there will be many days when there are a lot of long rallies.”
Nishikori next plays Australia’s John Millman who became the first player to clinch a ‘double bagel’ 6-0, 6-0 in Games history.
The 27-year-old Millman swept past Ricardas Berankis in just 50 minutes to complete a miserable summer for the Lithuanian player.
At Wimbledon in June, Berankis, 26, was knocked out in the first round by Britain’s world No. 772 Marcus Willis, a club professional.
“I’m not really sure that’s sunk in,” said Millman.
“I never even thought I’d be playing the Olympic Games. I’ve never represented my country before.
“It’s well documented I’ve had a few shoulder surgeries. To play in an Olympic Games is special. To be put in the record books is ridiculous.”
Paes, 43, and Rohan Bopanna were defeated 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) by Lukas Kubot and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.
The evergreen Paes was a singles bronze medallist at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
He shrugged off the controversy surrounding his Rio selection after it was claimed Bopanna preferred to play with Saketh Myneni.
“It had no effect on us. We gave it everything we had and fought hard,” said Paes.
“I was hoping to go deeper in the draw but we came up against a very hot Polish team.”
Paes and Matkowski are regular partners on the ATP Tour and reached the French Open quarterfinals.
Later Monday, fifth seeded Venus Williams, the 2000 champion in Sydney, starts against Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens.
At 36, Williams is the oldest player in the women’s draw in Rio.
Defending champions Andy Murray and Serena Williams as well as world No.1 Novak Djokovic and 2008 champion Rafael Nadal all start their campaigns on Tuesday.
Djokovic, bidding to become just the third man after Andre Agassi and Nadal to complete the Golden Slam of Olympic gold and the four majors, has arguably the toughest opening encounter.
The Serb faces 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro who beat him in the bronze medal match at the London Olympics in 2012.

Source: Arab News