Madrid Open 2017: Novak Djokovic Survives Upset Scare in Wednesday's Action
Novak Djokovic needed three sets to get through his second-round match with the spirited Nicolas Almagro at the 2017 Madrid Open on Wednesday, surviving a scare to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic had a more straightforward time as they took on Ryan Harrison and Gilles Muller and won in two sets each, while Kei Nishikori came from behind to beat Diego Schwartzman in three.
Later in the day, Eugenie Bouchard will take on world No. 1 Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep will clash with Sam Stosur, while Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka will also be in action against Fabio Fognini and Benoit Paire, respectively.
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Here are the results:
| Novak Djokovic beat Nicolas Almagro | 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 |
| Rafael Nadal vs. Fabio Fognini | |
| Stan Wawrinka vs. Benoit Paire | |
| Kei Nishikori beat Diego Schwartzman | 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 |
| Tomas Berdych beat Robin Haase | 7-6 (5), 6-3 |
| Gilles Simon vs. Feliciano Lopez | |
| Borna Coric vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert | |
| Marin Cilic vs. Alexander Zverev | |
| Milos Raonic beat Gilles Muller | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Grigor Dimitrov vs. Ivo Karlovic | |
| Nick Kyrgios beat Ryan Harrison | 6-3, 6-3 |
| Pablo Cuevas vs. Nicolas Mahut | |
| Anastasija Sevastova beat Lara Arruabarrena | 7-5, 6-2 |
| Angelique Kerber vs. Eugenie Bouchard | |
| Coco Vandeweghe vs. Carla Suarez Navarro | |
| Sam Stosur vs. Simona Halep | |
| Oceane Dodin vs. Kristina Mladenovic | |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Qiang Wang | 6-4, 7-5 |
| Kiki Bertens vs. Irina-Camelia Begu | |
| Sorana Cirstea vs. Misaki Doi |
To access the full schedule for the tournament, click here.
Recap
Almagro broke Djokovic in their opening game, but it looked as though that would be a blip on the way to a comfortable win for the Djoker as he responded by winning six games in succession to race through the first set.
The Spaniard was much-improved in the second, though, and Djokovic had to be at his best to keep him at bay, per TennisTV:
It wasn't enough to prevent Almagro from forcing a third set, but Record's Jose Morgado wasn't overly surprised by the way the match had played out thus far given Djokovic's form:
The 31-year-old broke the world No. 2 on the way to a 3-0 lead in the decider with yet more excellent play:
A thrilling end to the match saw Djokovic eventually claw his way back in front when Almagro missed a forehand at break point with the scores at 5-5.
From there, the Serb was able to serve out the match and book his place in the next round against either Gilles Simon or Feliciano Lopez.
After a hard-fought start, four successive unforced errors from Nishikori handed Schwartzman an easy break of serve in the opening set of their match.
The Argentinian built on it with some excellent play, per Tennis TV:
After sinking 6-1 in the first, Nishikori came out flying in the second and showed some much improved footwork and shot-making as he raced to a bagel.
Schwartzman saved four match points in the decider to break at 5-3 and spark some life into the contest, but Nishikori impressively rattled off four impressive winners in the following game to take the match.
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