A BAD START

Nadal recovers from bagel-set loss to beat Kohlschreiber

MIAMI

While Nadal played in the relative comfort of the late afternoon, Kei Nishikori also took three sets and nearly three hours to advance under a high noon sun, outlasting Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 67(5), 6-1.

Nishikori, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year, fired 37 winners but Verdasco, aided by persistent swirling winds, used his varying pace and depth to rattle

Japan’s No 1, inducing 48 unforced errors.