Kei Nishikori beats Andrei Rublev at the Tokyo Olympics
Japan's Kei Nishikori qualified for the second round of the men's singles tennis competitions at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, defeating fifth seed Andrei Rublev 6-3 6-4.
Nishikori, who won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said he was happy to be back playing at the highest level in tennis after struggling with injuries in recent years.
"You know it's been a long time since I played like this and beat players in the world's top 10," Nishikori told reporters. I think it's been two years already... I was a bit worried about the tension on the court but I wasn't, so that's a good sign."
Nishikori is ranked 69th in the world rankings but was the number one Asian player in the world for a long time after reaching fourth in the world after reaching the final of the US Open in 2014.
His victory came after his compatriot Naomi Osaka beat China's Cheng Saisai in the women's singles first round on Sunday.
But the other Japanese, Yoshihito Nishioka, was unlucky, losing in the men's singles competition and also falling into the men's doubles with Daniel Taro.
