Nishikori loses focus but not match to advance at US Open
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NEW YORK — Kei Nishikori lost his focus. At least he didn’t lose the match.
The seventh seed from Japan dropped a set, blew a lead in another and let four match points slip away before finally downing American Bradley Klahn 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to advance to the U.S. Open third round and avoid the pitfalls that have forced out half of the top 12 men’s seeds.
Nishikori, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2014, relied on his strong baseline retrieving game against the hard-serving Klahn, a former NCAA champion at Stanford. But Nishikori appeared to struggle at times, getting only half his first serves in and throwing in a double fault on a break point to help Klahn come back from 5-1 down to tie the fourth set. Four match points slipped away down the stretch before Nishikori prevailed.
“A little bit of lost focus,” he said on court after the match. He later added, “I started playing a little bit, not defensive, but I didn’t play aggressive. … That cost me a set. And also the fourth set he almost came back.”
