Kei Nishikori is off to a winning start in Rome, defeating Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4 in controlled performance, taking just under 80 minutes.

“I think I played almost 100% good tennis today,” Nishikori stated in his post-match interview. “[Fognini] was, of course, a tough player [to face], especially at home here in Rome.

“But I really played solid from the beginning until the end.”

Nishikori now has a 10-9 win-loss record in 2021 so far, and has in the past two tournaments lost to the eventual champion (Nadal in Barcelona and Zverev in Madrid).

“I’m feeling pretty good from last week,” Nishikori continued. “Unfortunately I lost to Sascha [Zverev], but he was playing really well.

“I was also playing at a pretty good tennis level and even today I think I showed a good level of tennis and I’m really looking forward to playing the next couple of rounds.”

Kei Nishikori will next face 11th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round in Rome.