US Open 2016: Ivanovic knocked out; Nishikori advances

TIL Desk Sports/ Former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic suffered a shock 6-7(4), 1-6 loss against Denisa Allertova of Czech Republic in the women’s singles first round at the 2016 US Open on Tuesday. Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner, started off well but failed to maintain her momentum. With the scored tied 6-6, the first set went into tie-break and the Serbian star failed to keep her nerves.

She completely collapsed in the second set, barely putting up a fight. She went down 1-6 to bring an end to her US Open campaign. Kei Nishikori held off a fightback from Benjamin Becker and earned a 6-1 6-1 3-6 6-3 victory over the German veteran on Tuesday for a convincing start to his U.S. Open title bid.

The Japanese sixth seed stormed through the first two sets but the 35-year-old Becker took control in the third before Nishikori righted the ship in time to secure a spot in the second round. “He started playing much better so it was tough third and fourth sets but luckily I got out of the last two games,” said Nishikori. “It was a pretty good match.” Nishikori, the U.S. Open runner-up in 2014, will next play qualifier Karen Khachanov, a 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-3 winner over Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano.