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Japan's Ken Nishikori returns a shot to USA's Alex Michelson during their first round match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal, Aug. 6, 2024. (The Canadian Press via AP)
MONTREAL--Kei Nishikori rallied to beat Alex Michelsen 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday in the first round of National Bank Open, earning his first victory in an ATP Masters 1000 event in three years.
The 2014 U.S. Open runner-up from Japan has battled injuries in recent years and hadn’t won a match in a Masters 1000 event, the level below the four Grand Slam tournaments, since Indian Wells in 2021. He was a finalist in the Canadian tournament in 2016, falling to Novak Djokovic.
Nishikori will face No. 8 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round.
Another oft-injured past finalist in a Grand Slam tournament had to withdraw when Canadian Milos Raonic pulled out before his first-round match against No. 13 seed Holger Rune with a shoulder injury.
“I tried to warm up for my match today and the thing that was most difficult was the serve. I don’t think I would’ve been able to be competitive by any means,” said Raonic, who had felt pain in his shoulder over the past 48 hours.
“I’ve had a lot of moments (in my career) where I haven’t been able to play, but I’d say this is probably the most difficult one. I haven’t played here in five years, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to Montreal.”
Rune went on to beat Roberto Bautista Agut, who had lost in the final round of qualifying, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Pablo Carreño Busta, the 2022 tournament champion, beat Fabian Marozsan 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-3 for his first ATP Tour victory since the first round of the 2023 Australian Open. The Spanish player was off the tour for 15 months because of an elbow injury.
Other first-round winners included No. 16 seed Karen Khachanov and Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
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