Eighteen-year-old qualifier Kei Nishikori of Japan, who has trained at IMG/Bollettieri for the past four years, defeated top seed James Blake in today's ATP tournament in Delray Beach. Except for last March's Luxilon Cup,
which he won, Nishikori didn't play any junior events, and had worked his way up to 244 on the ATP computers prior to this win. After saving four match points in his win against Sam Querrey Saturday, Nishikori wasn't likely to panic after losing the first set to Blake, and he recovered to quickly take the second set. An early break in the third was all he needed, and he had no difficulty serving out his first ATP title. Richard Evans of
Tennis Week was in Delray Beach all week, and has written
several atories about Nishikori's game. He's a fan, no doubt about it.
In the Men's Team Indoor semifinals Sunday in Seattle, No. 1 Virginia escaped with a 4-2 win over No. 5 Ole Miss, after dropping the first set in five of the six singles matches. The Cavaliers will meet No. 3 Ohio State, who stopped Georgia's win streak at 38 by handling the Bulldogs 4-1. For complete results of the day's action, visit the
University of Washington website.
