Nishikori qualifies for Delray; Haas, Malisse fall

Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student Kei Nishikori of Japan won all three of his qualifying matches to secure a spot in the main draw at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. Nishikori defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 7-5 to get into the main draw. He will now face fifth-seeded Florian Mayer in the first round.

We are all rooting for you Kei! We are also watching Kei closely in “Project 45.” In the history of Japanese tennis, the highest ranked player ever was Shuzo Matsuoka who achieved a ranking of #46 in the world. Well, we want Kei to pick up right where Shuzo left off and reach at least #45 in the world. Currently he is ranked #244, but at the age of 18 he has a very bright future.

Meanwhile, fellow Academy trained players Tommy Haas and Xavier Malisse didn’t fare so well in their first round matches. Haas, who is seeded second, lost to Diego Hartfield 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and Malisse, who is the defending champion, was defeated by Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Other winners included: Paul Capdeville, Robby Ginepri, Ivan Navarro, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Today, another Academy trained player, Jesse Levine, will take on Gilles Muller in the first round today. Levine, who reached the second round of his first Australian Open earlier this year, played at Delray last year and won two matches in the round robin format. This will be the first time he faces Muller.

Top-seeded James Blake will take on fellow American Robert Kendrick in the first round today, and that match will be followed by two more Americans squaring off: Donald Young and Amer Delic. Other Americans in action today include: Alex Bogomolov Jr, Michael Russell, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, and Vince Spadea.

Murray, Mathieu reach second round

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray won his first round match over qualifier Jesse Huta Galung 6-4, 6-4 at the Open 13 in Marseille, France. Murray has already had an up and down here, as he won a title in Doha and then lost in the first round at the Australian Open. He also skipped Davis Cup last week and was chastised by his brother, Jamie, for doing so. Murray will either face Stanislas Wawrinka or Sebastien Grosjean in the second round.
Fifth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero won his first round match over Hyung-Taik Lee 6-4, 6-1. Ferrero will take on Nicolas Mahut of France in the second round. Mahut defeated qualifier Russian qualifier Michail Elgin 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.

Also winning was eighth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu won his opening round match against fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6(7), 7-6(4). Mathieu will take on the winner between Michael Llodra and Andreas Seppi in the second round.