Nishikori battles past 59 aces in five-set win

MELBOURNE, Australia — Kei Nishikori could joke about it later, saying he faced more aces in one match from Ivo Karlovic than he himself would serve in a year.

Eighth-seeded Nishikori withstood 59 aces from Karlovic, and had to save three break points in the 10th game of the fifth set, before beating the 39-year-old Croatian 6-3, 7-6 (6), 5-7, 5-7, 7-6 (7) to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

The 2014 U.S. Open finalist hasn’t made it easy on himself at Melbourne Park, having to come back from 0-2 down to win his opening match in five sets. He won the first two against Karlovic but dropped the 11th games of the third and fourth sets and was taken again to a fifth.

Karlovic had 59 aces and 98 unreturned serves; Nishikori had nine aces.

After missing last year’s Australian Open because of injury, Nishikori made the fourth round at the French Open, the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the semifinals in New York.

Rain showers halted play on all courts soon after Nishikori’s win, forcing organizers to close the roofs of the three main show courts.

Earlier, Karolina Pliskova extended her winning start to the season after a rain-interrupted 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Madison Brengle. The 2016 U.S. Open finalist next will play No. 27 Camila Giorgi, who beat Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-0.

Madison Keys, a 2017 U.S. Open finalist, had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anastasia Potapova to set up a third-round match against No. 12-seeded Elise Mertens, who beat Margarita Gasparyan 6-1, 7-5.