ATP TORONTO: Nishikori, Monfils and Wawrinka move to the last 8. Anderson scrapes past Tomic

3rd seed Kei Nishikori will play in his first ATP quarter-final after Rome, and the 5th in as many Masters 1000 events this season, following 6-3 6-4 triumph against Rajeev Ram. World number 188th played his best Masters 1000 tournament here in Toronto, but it wasn’t enough to challenge Nishikori closely, losing the match in 68 minutes. Kei played a very solid match, with 28 winners and just 7 unforced errors, controlling the rallies with his strong groundstrokes. Rajeev fired just 6 aces and despite decent resistance he couldn’t take more than 7 games, wasting all 4 break points he had. Nishikori tried to put the things where they belong from the very start, losing just 3 points in his opening 3 service games, and waiting for the chance on the return. He got in in game 5, but Ram saved 3 break points to keep the score locked at 3-3. Kei stepped in in the final 3 games, breaking Ram twice to take the opener 6-3. In the second set, Rajeev showed why he reached the last 16, serving better than Nishikori and holding easily in the first 4 service games. He could have been in front if he converted any of 3 …

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