Kei Nishikori fires warning to Andy Murray by crushing US Open champ Stan Wawrinka at O2
KEI NISHIKORI thrashed Stan Wawrinka to give himself the upper hand in Andy Murray’s section at the O2.
Japan ace Nishkori beat the US Open champion 6-2 6-3 in just 67 minutes in the day’s first singles match.
Wawrinka looked far from the man who had overcome Novak Djokovic in the final in New York.
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His opponent bossed the match from the start, breaking for a 3-2 lead in the opening set and again before serving it out.
The second set was more competitive, but not by much.
Nishikori’s convincing win is a big boost to his hopes of winning the three-way battle with Wawrinka and Milos Raonic to end 2016 as the world No 3.
Nishikori said: “I think I was very solid from the first game and I was very confident. I tried to play solid and I thought I played a good match today.
“That’s my goal for this week, try to win a lot of matches and reach number four or number three. I see the opportunity to go up the ranking.”
Wawrinka, who was wearing strapping on his left knee, was so disappointed with his performance that he left the court without giving a TV interview.
Murray will take on Croatia’s Marin Cilic this evening.
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