Kei Nishikori occupied the spotlight this evening for the right reasons—a stadium match against the world No. 1, rather than his unasked-for role as top ATP player from a nation in the grip of disaster.
He gave a good account of himself. I enjoyed his play, although I wouldn't go as far as commentators Robbie Koenig and Justin Gimelstob, who were penciling him in for a Top 20 ranking. Nishikori looked comfortable in extended rallies: if you were to do a split-screen of his two-handed backhand with David Nalbandian's, you'd see a lot of similarities, including the hop step and tight follow-through on the finish. He also has the ability to redirect the shot with a minimal backswing, a la Nikolay Davydenko.
But Nishikori doesn't have a reliable finishing shot, like Nalbandian's point-ending, down-the-line backhand, and this cost him dear tonight. He earned four break points in the first set, but couldn't convert any. Nadal has given fits when down break point in the past, but the Japanese No. 1 established himself in three of these rallies. On the last, at 4-3, 30-40, Nishikori's excellent return forced Nadal very deep, making the Spaniard throw up a mid-court ball. Nishikori, though, spurned the opportunity to attack and couldn't convert from the baseline. Nadal would eventually take the set, 6-4.
In the second set, Nadal was faced with a similar situation at 30-40, and he took a chance by attacking the net and sticking a volley winner. In some ways, tonight's match was similar to the one I saw Nadal play against Somdev Devvarman in Indian Wells. Nadal was a level-and-a-half below his best form, but hit the ball with considerably more pace and work than Nishikori, who struggled to finish points where he had an advantage. Nadal had heavier weapons, and would go on to win, 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal served better—he could hardly have served worse—than he did in his last match, the Indian Wells final, and he finished off the proceedings with a crunching ace down the T. I'd be surprised if he was entirely happy with his serve, which just crept over a 50% first-serve percentage in the second set, but it wasn't the sort of evening which ought to have forced the world No. 1 back onto the practice courts at 11 p.m. The only statistics that really mattered in the end were one break of serve in each set, yielding a straight-sets victory.
—Andrew Burton