Kei Nishikori said he was a little frustrated after his first round win at the US Open was over inside 47 minutes. The former runner-up in New York, Nishikori was leading qualifier Marco Trungelliti 6-1 4-1 before the Argentine was forced to retire because of a back injury.
The seventh seed said he was happy to be through though he would have liked longer on court. He said: “For me I played great tennis from the beginning and I’m happy with the way I played today.
“But honestly I wanted to play a little more because I was feeling good on the court and I wanted to get a little more confidence, playing more points, more confidence playing matches. I think my rhythm was going.”
The US Open has been Nishikori’s most successful Grand Slam, the Japanese player reaching the final in 2014 and the last four in 2016 and 2018. He has also been consistent so far this year, having reached the quarter-finals in the three previous Grand Slams.
“I hope I can be the one to beat the top three, but I feel like those three guys are still different level,” he added. “I think in maybe a few years I’m sure it’s going to change a little bit.
“I hope I can sneak in there and win the title sometimes. For me, yeah, that’s going to be my big goal to win a Masters or Grand Slams.”
Nishikori is 1.15 to beat Bradley Klahn in round two with the American 5.00. The Japanese is 51.00 to win the US Open with Rafael Nadal 3.75 and Novak Djokovic 2.00.
