Nishikori reaches round two

Academy student Kei Nishikori reached the second round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships after his opponent, fifth-seeded Florian Mayer, retired when losing 6-0, 4-3. Nishikori, who is 18-years old from Japan, will facem American Amer Delic in the second round. Delic defeated the very talented Donald Young 7-6(7), 6-3 in the first round.

Every match Nishikori wins he moves one step closer to reaching #45 in the world. If he is able to get there, he will become the highest ranked Japanese men’s player in tennis history. We are calling this “Project 45!”

Also winning in Delray Beach was top-seeded James Blake, third-seeded Sam Querrey, and sixth-seeded Vince Spadea. Blake defeated fellow American Robbie Kendrick 7-5, 7-5 and will face Paul Capdeville of Chile in the second round. Querrey took down Yuri Schukin of Russia 6-1, 6-4 and faced Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round. Finally, Spadea beat German Denis Gremelmayr 6-3, 6-3 and will take on Gilles Muller next.

Play will resume at 11:00am today 9in Florida with the first singles match featuring a pair of Americans: Michael Russell and Robby Ginepri. Nishikori is third on Court 1 today.

Murray, Mathieu make quarterfinals in Marseille

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray advanced to the quarterfinals of the Open 13 with a come-from-behind victory over Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1. Murray will take on Nicolas Mahut of France, after Mahut upset fifth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(1) in the second round. Murray is 1-0 against Mahut, with that win coming last year at Indian Wells.

Eighth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu became the third man to reach the quarters after he beat fellow countryman Michael Llodra 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the second round. His quarterfinal opponent is still yet to be determined.

Australian Open champion and top-seed Novak Djokovic reached the second round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Croatian qualifier Ivan Dodig. Djokovic, who was sick last week during the Davis Cup, will faced Frenchman Gilles Simon in the second round.

Djokovic’s Australian Open finals opponent, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, didn’t fare as well. He lost to former top 10 player Mario Ancic 7-5, 7-6(3). Ancic is looking to regain is stellar form after missing most of 2007 because of mono. Ancic will face Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia in the second round.

Also winning was Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. He came back from a set down to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-7(6), 7-5, 7-6(4) to set up a clash with sixth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round. This will be the first career meeting between Karlovic and Baghdatis in their careers.

Finally, second-seeded Richard Gasquet made quick work of Simone Bolelli, defeating the Italian 6-3, 6-3. Gasquet will face Robin Soderling of Sweden in the second round.

Hantuchova and Schnyder reach quarters

Third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova advanced to the quarterfinals of the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Belgian Wild Card Yanina Wickmayer. Hantuchova will face either American Julie Ditty or qualifier Timea Bacsinszky.

Also winning was fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder. The Swiss tennis star defeated Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-4 and takes on Karin Knapp of Italy in the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Justine Henin is scheduled to play her first match, which will be against Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round. If Henin wins she will face Russian qualifier Alisa Kleybanova in the quarterfinals. Kleybanova defeated Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

Moya moves on

Top-seeded Carlos Moya won his second round match to reach the quarterfinals of the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe. Moya needed three sets, but eventually moved past Olivier Patience 5-7, 6-1, 6-0. Moya will take on fellow Spaniard Oscar Hernandez in the quarters, after Hernandez took down Sergio Roitman 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Also reaching the quarters were Ivo Minar and Fabio Fognini. Minar beat Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-4 while Fognini took down eighth-seeded Albert Montanes 7-5, 6-3.

Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro will take on Serbian Boris Pashanski in the second round.