Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the Australian Open round of 16 in the open era on Saturday as Zheng Jie joined Chinese number one Li Na in the fourth round. Nishikori, the 24th seed, matched his best performance at a grand slam by recovering from a set down to beat France's Julien Benneteau 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Resurgent Zheng, who remains unbeaten in 2012, shocked ninth seed Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-3 in just under an hour-and-a-half to progress as China's women continued to impress in Melbourne. Nishikori, who also reached the fourth round of the US Open in 2008, was broken twice in the first set as Benneteau drew first blood, but he held his nerve to win two consecutive tiebreaks before also taking the fourth set.
The Japanese, 22, had a breakthrough year in 2011, reaching two finals and beating world number one Novak Djokovic as he became the highest-ranked Japanese man in history. He is currently the world number 26. Nishikori said he had played his best match of the week Saturday, adding: "Played well actually. He played well, too. I mean, first and second he was playing really aggressive."
The key to the match, said Nishikori, was coming back from a perilous position in the third set. "That was a really tough moment for me because I was up a break in the first and second sets, and he came back. Third set he was 5-2 up. You know, it was so many ups and down. Mentally it wasn't easy."
Nishikori, who next plays sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he beat in Shanghai last year, said: "Yeah, (we) played a couple of times. One was an exhibition. We played last week and played Shanghai last year. "You know, he's really aggressive. He has a great serve. He comes to the net a lot. But, yeah, I'm excited to get through here, round of 16. That's my best result right now in a grand slam. Yeah, I want to win the next one."
Meanwhile Zheng, who won her fourth WTA title in Auckland this month, gave Bartoli the runaround, racing into a 4-0 lead and surviving a wobble to seal the first set with an overhead smash. Bartoli battled hard at the start of the second set but Zheng stayed strong, securing a crucial break in the sixth game. In total, Zheng hit 28 winners against just seven for Bartoli.
Zheng said Li's French Open win last year had boosted other Chinese players and had prompted more interest in tennis in the giant country, regarded as a key market for the sport. "I think Li Na winning a grand slam was... big news in China. And also she (was) in the final last year of the Australian Open. It's so good," she said.
"A few years ago we never thought we could win a singles grand slam. Yeah, I think it also gave me more confidence," added Zheng. Zheng also said her win in New Zealand had set her up well for the Australian Open, although she admitted her heavy programme had been tiring. "I think today was good. Also, I didn't think I would win this match like today this easily. But she's still a good player. She has a big serve," Zheng said.
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