Nishikori beats Dodig to advance at Japan Open

TOKYO (AP) Fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Japan Open on Wednesday. Nishikori

TOKYO (AP) Fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Japan Open on Wednesday.

Nishikori faced only one break point in 10 service games and progressed to a match against Donald Young of the United States in the second round.

It was Nishikori's first singles match in Japan since he went to the final of the U.S. Open and a capacity crowd of 10,000 was on hand to watch the local favorite win in 85 minutes.

In other matches, Steve Johnson of the United States came from a set down to beat Marcel Granollers of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and advance to the quarterfinals.