Former champion Kei Nishikori’s Citi Open campaign is off to a flying start following a straight-sets win over familiar foe Sam Querrey on Monday. The Japanese World No. 67 clinched his seventh victory from 11 ATP Head2Head meetings against the American, 6-4, 6-4.
Nishikori arrived in Washington from Tokyo, where he had become the first man to reach three straight Olympics Games quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic). Despite the quick turnaround to adjust to conditions in the US capital, he broke three times and prevailed convincingly in 86 minutes .
“Yeah we have played a lot. It’s been many times,” the 2015 Citi Open champion said in his on-court interview. “It’s not easy playing Sam. He has a great serve and especially this surface he has more time to play but… I returned pretty good in those games and I’m very pleased how I played today.”
A former No. 4 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Nishikori was rattling through his service games, as Querrey increasingly…