Greg Garber, Senior Writer 9y

Why this should be Nishikori's year

Tennis

He was a breakthrough ATP World Tour champion at the age of 18 -- and then, six years later, Kei Nishikori suddenly found himself an overnight sensation.

As the No. 5 seed at this year's Australian Open, monstrous things are now expected of the best player in Japanese history. After reaching last year's US Open final (and beating three top-10 players in consecutive matches), there are some who believe Nishikori will become a major champion -- as soon as this season.

Those believers were probably breathing a little quickly Tuesday when Nishikori ran into a reinvented Nicolas Almagro on Margaret Court Arena.

Almagro scuffled his way to a break of serve in the second set and forced a tiebreaker before going quietly, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-2. And so, unlike the women's No. 5 seed, Ana Ivanovic, Nishikori is through to the second round, where he'll play the winner of Ivan Dodig and Joao Souza.

"Obviously was really tough, tough first match," Nishikori said afterward. "He could be seeded player, and I know he was injured, but still was tough match. Yeah, was a little bit windy, so we both didn't play maybe 100 percent. But I was getting more balls, especially third set."

Almagro, who missed the last half of the 2014 season after undergoing foot surgery, was playing only his second match in six months -- and looking for his first Grand Slam victory in 19 months.

Nishikori's Australian warm-up went well; he reached the semifinals at Brisbane, losing a three-set, three-tiebreaker match to Milos Raonic, and even made the doubles final.

Meanwhile, Raonic -- the No. 8 seed in Melbourne -- defeated Illya Marchenko 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3.

The Canadian's best Australian Open result is a fourth-round appearance in his 2011 debut as a qualifier and again in 2013. That looks extremely attainable, as No. 25 seed Julien Benneteau is the highest-seeded player in his way to what could be a Round of 16 match with either Feliciano Lopez or Gael Monfils.

More 5-set woes for Americans

For the first time in four years, Sam Querrey won't see second-round action in Australia. Leading two sets to one against Canadian Vasek Pospisil, Querrey couldn't leverage his big first serve enough to finish the job. Despite 24 aces, Querrey won less than half the points on his second serve -- not exactly a winning formula in today's game.

Not to be outdone, Denis Kudla, a 22-year-old from Arlington, Virginia, held three match points in the fifth set against No. 12 seed Feliciano Lopez, but failed to convert.

The 33-year-old Spaniard prevailed 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 in a match that ran 3 hours, 14 minutes. The difference? Lopez fired 26 aces, 14 more than Kulda, who visibly tightened when he had a chance to win serving at 6-5.

Kudla, who was born in Kiev, Ukraine, won the USTA's wild card into the main draw by posting the best aggregate effort at three Challenger events back in the fall. It was another difficult five-set experience for an American man. John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, the top-three Americans, are a combined 9-26 in matches that go the distance.

The top-seeded American man, No. 19 John Isner, was a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 winner over Jimmy Wang of Chinese Taipei. The 6-foot-11 former Georgia Bulldog had 31 aces.

Johnson was a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Kyle Edmund of Great Britain. It was only the third Grand Slam singles match for Edmund, who turned 20 earlier this month.

Donald Young was also a victor, taking down Tim Puetz of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His reward? The dangerous, daunting Raonic in the second round.

Top women's players topple

No. 12 Flavia Pennetta, No. 13 Andrea Petkovic and No. 15 Jelena Jankovic all lost in the first round on Day 2. Make that 11 seeded players who lost their openers. If you're doing the math at home, that matches the record for the fewest women's seeds (21) to make the second round at any Slam in the 32-seed era (start of 2002).

American Madison Brengle took care of Petkovic in a 2-hour, 22-minute tussle. Brengle is one of 16 U.S. players, men and women, who have reached the second round, the most at the Aussie Open since 2004. The includes 12 women in the round of 64, the most here in 16 years.

Et cetera

Remember Garbine Muguruza's breakthrough at last year's French Open? She took out top seed Serena Williams in the second round and pushed Maria Sharapova to three sets in the quarterfinals. This year, the 21-year-old Spaniard's already knocked off WTA No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanksa in the Sydney warm-up. Tuesday the No. 24 seed handled Marina Erakovic 7-5, 6-0. If she can advance to the fourth round her opponent there could well be -- Williams, the No. 1 seed ... No. 15 seed, the fabulous Fabio Fognini departed in the first round, falling to Alejandro Gonzalez in a four-set match. Fognini, the charismatic Italian, had an amazing 77 unforced errors ... Australian favorite Samantha Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Monica Niculescue. ... Highly touted Dominic Thiem lost a 2-hour, 59-minute battle to Roberto Bautista Agut.

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