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Kei Nishikori overcame a tough test at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, recovering from a set down to overcome Chinese wild card Yibing Wu 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
The 28-year-old, who reached his second tour-level final of the season in Tokyo last week (l. to Medvedev), won 68 per cent of service points and converted five of 10 break points to record his 35th tour-level win of the season. Currently in 10th position in the ATP Race To London, Nishikori is bidding to qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London for the fourth time.
"I was surprised actually in the first set how he played," said Nishikori. "He was playing very solid. He was hitting good serves, very good forehand and backhand. Everything was working well. I was a little bit surprised how he plays very quick.
"But I just tried to focus on what I had to do in the second set, and I knew I was going to get some chances and maybe he would drop his level a little bit. I thought about losing the match maybe, but in the second and third sets I think I was focused almost every point. So I was happy with my tennis in the end."
Wu, who earned his first ATP World Tour win over fellow Chinese wild card Zhe Li on Monday, dropped just four points behind his first serve in the opening set. The 18-year-old, who celebrates his 19th birthday on Sunday, reached a career-high No. 299 in ATP Rankings on 10 September.
"[Kei is] a very good player. He said he couldn't do anything about my first set," said Wu. "After the first set he was still able to find a way to beat me. There is a lot for me to learn to try to catch up with him, to get to be someone who can always know what to do even after they were beaten for one set and always find a way to adapt to the latest conditions."
After surrendering an early break advantage in the first set, Nishikori was broken to love in the eighth game before falling a set behind. But Nishikori responded emphatically, winning 12 of the last 15 games to book his place in the third round.
Nishikori will face Sam Querrey for a place in the quarter-finals. The American battled past #NextGenATP countryman Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5 in one hour and 53 minutes.
Querrey has now reached the third round in Shanghai on three occasions, having also reached the last 16 in 2012 and 2017. The New York Open finalist levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Fritz at 2-2, after losses in their two clashes this year in Delray Beach and Chengdu.
Nishikori, who reached the 2011 semi-finals (l. to Murray), owns a 6-4 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Querrey. The pairing's last meeting came two and half years ago at 2016 Acapulcoreadfullarticle
