Kei Nishikori survives five-set Wimbledon runaround, but injury fears persist

A five-set Wimbledon first-round match lasting almost three and a half hours was not what Kei Nishikori needed on Monday as he nursed a sore calf strain.

But what the Japanese hero wanted mattered little to Simone Bolelli as the Italian kept giving Nishikori and his stricken calf the run around until the fifth seed prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

“It’s a little bit sore from last week but it’s getting better and it wasn’t easy to play for three hours but it should be okay for the next match,” Nishikori said.

Concerns that the injury which forced Nishikori to retire from the Halle semi-finals nine days ago would scupper his Wimbledon campaign surfaced midway through the fifth set when he had to get his stricken left calf re-strapped while leading 3-0.

The rather modest skin-toned tape that had done the job to that point was discarded as the trainer replaced it with so much white strapping it appeared as if Nishikori’s leg had been mummified.

Despite being in discomfort, Nishikori kept going for three hours and 22 minutes to win his second successive five-set marathon against Bolelli at Wimbledon after the pair went the distance in the third round last year.

“I knew it was going to be a tough one because we played long five sets last year here. I knew he’s good on grass,” Nishikori, who was the only Japanese man to win on Monday following the exits of Hiroki Moriya and Go Soeda, said.