Australian Open: Nishikori progresses to the third round

Roger Federer reached the third round of the Australian Open with a tough three-sets win over American qualifier Noah Rubin on Wednesday.

Published : Jan 18, 2017 08:59 IST , Melbourne

Kei Nishikori of Japan hits a return against Jeremy Chardy of France during their men's singles match on day three of the Australian Open.
Kei Nishikori of Japan hits a return against Jeremy Chardy of France during their men's singles match on day three of the Australian Open.
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Kei Nishikori of Japan hits a return against Jeremy Chardy of France during their men's singles match on day three of the Australian Open.

Kei Nishikori shook off the effects of a tough five-set victory in the opening round and took advantage of Jeremy Chardy's inconsistent service game to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Nishikori beat Chardy 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on Hisense Arena as the Frenchman wasted several opportunities to deliver a real challenge to the fifth seed.

Chardy, who beat Nicolas Almagro in the first round when the Spaniard retired after four games, broke the Japanese three times in the match, only to broken right back. He also blew several rallies he had control of.

Nishikori had needed three hours, 34 minutes to wear down Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov in the first round but was far more consistent on Wednesday, breaking the 29-year-old Chardy seven times to take the win in two hours, seven minutes.

No fuss win for Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka got his Australian Open campaign back on track with an unruffled straight-sets win over American Steve Johnson to reach the third round on Wednesday.

The 2014 winner bounced back from his too-close-for-comfort five-set opening round triumph over Martin Klizan with a more accomplished performance against the 30th-ranked Johnson.

The Swiss fourth seed rolled through a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win in 1hr 52min, with no breaks of serve and dominating the rallies. Wawrinka will next play either Serbian Viktor Troicki or Italian Paolo Lorenzi.

"I played at a great level and I'm really happy with my focus to get into the third round," Wawrinka said. "I was feeling the ball better today and I made him play a lot. I was happy with my serve in general."

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