Nishikori into US Open second round

NEW YORK: Kei Nishikori, glad to be back on the New York hard courts where he became Asia´s first men´s Grand Slam finalist, reached the second round of the US Open Tuesday.

The Japanese sixth seed, who fell to Marin Cilic in the 2014 final, quashed German Benjamin Becker´s rally attempt, emerging with a 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory on the new Grandstand court in two hours 10 minutes.

Nishikori appeared to be on his way to a quick victory when he put away the first two sets in 49 minutes.

But things then got complicated against the 96th-ranked Becker.

Nishikori, however, finally gained the break he needed for a 5-3 lead in the fourth and served it out with a love game punctuated by his seventh ace.

The second day of action at the year´s final Grand Slam was set for a blockbuster night on the Arthur Ashe stadium court where Serena Williams was to launch her bid for a seventh US Open title against Russian veteran Ekaterina Makarova before second-seeded Briton Andy Murray took on Czech Lukas Rosol.

Williams´s Wimbledon triumph in July saw her equal Steffi Graf´s Open Era record of 22 major titles.

She has won four of five encounters with Makarova, including two US Open matches against the Russian left-hander.

Murray is bidding to become the fourth man in the Open Era to reach all four major finals in a calendar year.

Since capturing his second Wimbledon title Murray has gone on to defend his Olympic gold in Rio, and he´ll aim to build on that momentum in the tournament where his 2012 triumph made him the first British man to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry at the 1936 US Open.

Murray will also be aiming to improve on his 2015 showing in Flushing Meadows, where his streak of 18 straight Grand Slam quarter-finals was snapped by Kevin Anderson.