Japan’s Kei Nishikori won his first clay match of the season returning from a three week absence due to a groin injury with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the third-round of the Barcelona Open on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old fourth-seeded Nishikori, who hadn’t played since pulling out of his Miami Masters semi-final with Novak Djokovic on March 28th, said he had felt no pain during the match which he won in just under two hours against the 45th-ranked Spaniard.
“I’m very happy to win,” said Nishikori, who had prepared for the tournament by training on clay in Florida last week.
Nishikori, ranked 17th in the world, next faces Andrey Golubev
