Kei Nishikori secures Italian Open progress

Fifth seed Kei Nishikori has beaten Jiri Vesely in straight sets to book his place in round three of the Italian Open.

Both players exchanged service breaks in the opening set before Vesely broke again to take a 3-2 lead. However, the Czech wasted four set points as Nishikori levelled at 5-5 on his way to forcing a tie-break.

The Japanese then asserted his authority in the breaker, coming through 7-6(3) to land the first blow of the afternoon.

It was another closely-fought affair in the second as the two men gave little away, but Nishikori eventually broke to go 6-5 ahead and from there he was able to secure a 7-6(3) 7-5 victory.