Given a wildcard, Miami 2016 finalist Kei Nishikori was unsurprisingly a bit behind against Ofner.
Former world number four Kei Nishikori’s return to the ATP Tour after a long injury absence ended with a 6-3, 6-4 first-round loss to Sebastian Ofner.
Japan’s Nishikori has barely played on tour in the past two years, with his last ATP Tour appearance coming in Atlanta in July.
Given a wildcard by organizers, the Miami 2016 finalist was unsurprisingly a little behind against 40th-ranked Austrian Ofner as he struggled to replicate his training form.
“I thought I practiced well and played a lot better. I felt the rhythm and I felt the ball pretty well in training, but during the match it’s completely different,” he told reporters.
“It was windy, he hit the ball very hard, very fast, the courts are fast. I was struggling to get a lot of balls up the field and just the little things I wasn’t doing, maybe I was supposed to hit the corner but the ball sometimes goes to the middle,” he added .
At 34, Nishikori faces a real challenge moving up the rankings, but he believes that with time he can return to the elite level.
“I don’t have a clear goal at the moment, you know, I just want to play a lot of matches. I need time to get used to (matches) and hopefully I can stay healthy, I I think that’s the only goal this year, I’m trying to play as many matches as possible,” he said.
Gaël Monfils, the 37-year-old Frenchman, showed style in his 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 victory against Serbian Dusan Lajovic.
“It was a great match, he played well and I always play for these moments, these challenges. I feel like the fire is still there,” he said.
Britain’s Dan Evans fought back for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Rybakina mobilizes
In the WTA event, Caroline Wozniacki was one point away from winning in straight sets against Anhelina Kalinina but the Ukrainian ended up winning 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
Wozniacki, who returned to the tour last year after a three-year absence, during which she gave birth to two children, reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells last week.
Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina had a scare against Denmark’s Clara Tauson before fighting back to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Rybakina, who had victories in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi as well as a second place in Doha, had to miss Indian Wells through illness and said she was still getting back to her best.
“I am happy with the victory. It means a lot, I hadn’t really played for over a week and it will take time for me to get back to my best form, but I’m happy to have another chance,” Rybakina said.
Greece’s Maria Sakkari, a finalist beaten by Iga Swiatek in California, beat Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.
Sakkari had lost her opening match in Miami in each of the last two years, but she defeated the in-form Yuan in one hour and 19 minutes.
The 25-year-old Chinese arrived in Miami after winning her first WTA singles title in Austin, then reaching her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in Indian Wells.
Ninth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, had to work hard to score 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 against qualifier Laura Siegemund of Germany.
Victoria Azarenka, three-time winner of the Miami Open, had to face strong resistance from American Peyton Stearns before winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Belarusian Azarenka won in Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
