Kei Nishikori of Japan returns a shot during his Men's Singles second round match against Bradley Klahn of the United States on day three of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2019 in the Flushing neighborh
New York: Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori spoke of his growing confidence Wednesday after advancing to the US Open third round following a gritty 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over American Bradley Klahn.
Steady rain restricted play to the two main show courts to start the day at Flushing Meadows, where Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up, needed five match points to eventually oust 108th-ranked Klahn.
"I think today's match will help. There were some up-and-downs and I think I needed to play a lot of tennis, especially because I lost two first rounds, Cincy and Canada," said Nishikori, who arrived in New York without a hardcourt win since Indian Wells in March.
"I needed to have little more confidence. So I think it was good match today. But before coming into here, I was a little bit worried, of course. I didn't have much confidence, but I think now it's getting bigger and more confidence is coming into my head."
Nishikori has reached the quarter-finals or better at the last five Grand Slam tournaments and will take on either Chilean 31st seed Cristian Garin or Australia's Alex de Minaur for a spot in the last 16.
However, he was made to scrap against Klahn under the roof at Louis Armstrong Stadium after surrendering a 5-1 cushion in the final set.
"I knew it was going to be a tough one because he has a great serve," said Nishikori, a semi-finalist on his last two appearances at Flushing Meadows.
"A little bit of lost focus. After 5-1, I was serving for the match at 5-2 and he started playing better too. I'm happy to win of course, it was a good match and I'm looking forward to playing the next one.
"Overall I think played good tennis. Some of the moments I think I didn't play well," he added.
Nishikori spent just 47 minutes on court in the first round Monday as Argentine qualifier Marco Trungelliti quit with a back injury midway through the second set.
He said the protracted finish to his win over Klahn was not necessarily a bad thing.
"I think always there is positives side if you play a long match," he said.
"Of course it's better to win straight sets in one or two hours. Yeah, today I learned couple things. Yeah, sometimes it's good to have lots of tennis on the court and especially first couple rounds."
