Japan's Ken Nishikori returns a shot to USA's Alex Michelson during their first round match at the National Bank Open tennis in Montreal on Aug. 6, 2024. Nishikori won the match in three sets.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
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.”
First-round winners included No. 16 seed Karen Khachanov and Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.