Kei Nishikori avoided a first round upset at the Japan Open Tennis Championships 2013 tournament after coming back from the brink of defeat to oust 32-year old Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in a match that lasted two hours and eight minutes.
Melzer was serving for the match in the second set and was two points from victory before Nishikori, the defending champion of his home event, came roaring back by taking risks that paid off.
With the sold out crowd rooting for him, Nishikori avoided to become the second defending champion to lose in the opening round the next year. The first and only one to have gone this route was 2009 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who lost in the opening round in 2010.
Nishikori will next face Feliciano Lopez of Spain.
