CHENNAI, India (AP)—Kei Nishikori of Japan rallied to beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday and reach the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open.
The 98th-ranked Nishikori, who beat two-time defending champion Marin Cilic in the opening round, was down a break and trailing 3-0 in the second set when he turned it around.
Also, sixth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia defeated Alexandre Kudryavtsev of Russia 6-2, 7-6 (3), and eighth-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands beat Yuichi Sugita of Japan 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Swiss third seed Stanislas Wawrinka overcame Belgian qualifier David Goffin 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) to advance to the next round.
Falla, who stretched Roger Federer to five sets at Wimbledon last year, overpowered his Japanese opponent in the opening set with powerful strokes from the baseline and looked in complete control after going up a break early in the second.
But Nishikori managed a break in the fourth game of that set and went on to win nine straight games. Falla, ranked 105th, smashed his racket on the court in frustration as his opponent took control.
“I always start slowly. It’s one of the things I have to do, to start quickly and hopefully I win the first set,” the 21-year-old Nishikori said. “Usually I lose the first set and then come back.”
Nishikori, who was named the ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2008 but was sidelined for six months due to right elbow surgery the following year, will next meet Tipsarevic.
“The next match is going to be tough,” Nishikori said. “I’ve never played him.”
The 49th-ranked Tipsarevic broke Kudryavtsev in the fourth and eight games to clinch the opening set, but the big serving Serbian was extended to the tiebreaker in the second set.
“I had three break points at 3-all, but he served really well,” said Tipsarevic, who was a member of Serbia’s Davis Cup-winning team in 2010. “I had an early break in the tiebreaker. … I’m happy I finished it in two sets.”
Last year’s runner-up Wawrinka was broken in the opening game of the first set but broke back in the eighth to force the tiebreaker.
Goffin, who beat Asian Games gold medallist Somdev Devvarman of India in the first round, raced to a 3-0 lead in the second game but Beijing Olympics doubles gold medallist Wawrinka broke his opponent in the seventh game and won on another tiebreaker.