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Round 2 of the Malaysian Open 250 tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia began on Wednesday, with a busy day of matches. The in demand Kei Nishikori made his first competitive appearance since his US Open heroics, where he made it all the way to the final, beating Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic on the way. His game against American Rajeev Ram would test whether he was suffering from a post-US Open lull.
Also in action was Australian Marinko Matosevic, who conquered Nick Kyrgios in the previous round. Matosevic is probably most known in the tennis world for attempting to get inside Rafael Nadal’s head by kicking over the Spaniard’s precisely aligned water bottles.
Results- Wednesday 24th
Round 2
K Nishikori (1) beat R Ram 6-2 6-3
J Benneteau (4) beat F Krajinovic 6-4 6-3
M Matosevic beat G Soeda 7-6(5) 6-4
B Becker beat J Sousa (6) 7-6(1) 6-2
P Cuevas (5) beat I Dodig 3-6 7-5 7-5
M Przysiezny beat M Jaziri 4-6 6-4 6-2
Nishikori showed he belongs at the top of the game, routinely beating Ram 2 and 3. It is a quality all of the top players seem to have; the ability to get through early rounds without exerting too uch physical or mental energy.
Joao Sousa, losing finalist last week in Moselle, couldn’t repeat his efforts this week in the Malaysian Open, falling to the in-form Matosevic who will be a danger to Nishikori in the Quarter Finals. Fourth and fifth seeds respecitvely Julien Benneteau and Pablo Cuevas progressed, the latter Cuevas having to battle hard against Croat Ivan Dodig.
Schedule – Thursday 25th
Round 2
L Mayer (3) v J Nieminen
B Becker v P-H Herbert
M Przysiezny v P Andujar (7)
P Petzschner (q) v E Gulbis (2)
Round 2 of the Malaysian Open continues on Thursday with second seed Ernsests Gulbis in action for the first time. It should be a routine victory for the Latvian, however he is prone to the odd surprise upset. He can still qualify mathematically for the World Tour Finals, so he will be looking to use that as motivation to go deep this week.
Pablo Adujar and Leonardo Mayer are the other seeds in action and will expect to progress into the Quarter Finals on Friday.
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