Djokovic defeats Nishikori in 1st round of Madrid Open

Novak Djokovic notched an encouraging win in his comeback from a right elbow injury when he beat Kei Nishikori 7-5, 64 in the first round of the Madrid Open yesterday.

Djokovic broke serve late in each set to get past the 20th-ranked Nishikori after nearly two hours in the Magic Box.

Djokovic hasn’t made it to the quarterfinals in his previous five tournaments this year, admitting he returned to tennis too quickly. In his last event, he lost in the third round in Monte Carlo, where Nishikori reached the final.

Maria Sharapova, who won in Madrid in 2014, made it to the last 16 by defeating Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-1 in only her second match since the Australian Open. She has been dealing with a left forearm injury.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Sharapova said of her match. “Being down a break to start off both of those sets didn't make things easy for me. That will certainly help me moving forward.”

Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki edged past Ashleigh Barty 62, 4-6, 6-4. Wozniacki reached the 2009 final on debut and hasn't been close since.

Milos Raonic defeated Nicolas Kicker 63, 6-2 to set up a second-round encounter with third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, while Richard Gasquet beat Tomas Berdych 64, 6-2 to advance to play qualifier Dusan Lajovic, who got past Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2.