PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - Japan’s Kei Nishikori blazed into the quarter-finals of the French Open with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 defeat of unseeded Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili on Sunday.
The fifth seed had not struck a ball in anger since Wednesday’s second round after his next opponent Benjamin Becker of Germany pulled out injured.
But the U.S. Open runner-up looked in a hurry to get his challenge moving again, playing razor-sharp tennis in damp and heavy conditions to outclass a gritty Gabashvili.
Nishikori has reached the French Open quarter-finals for the first time and will play either Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych or Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Toby Davis)
