World No. 6 Kei Nishikori beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic in his first match to book a spot in the third round of the Italian Open on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded Nishikori defeated 40th-ranked Vesely 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. Nishikori battled back from a 5-3 deficit in the first set and broke his opponent at 5-5 in the 11th game of the second in the warm-up to the French Open starting next Sunday.
