Nishikori moves on while Thiem crashes out of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

It was a different day for Kei Nishikori and Dominic Thiem in Dubai, as the Japanese moved on while Thiem lost at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The Japanese player is playing some good tennis in Dubai this week after struggling in weeks prior. Today in his match against David Goffin he was solid from start to finish despite some late jitters when serving to close out the match. The opening set was won due to his strong play on his own serve and a timely break on Goffin's.

The 2nd set was a similar one as Nishikori had a 4-2 lead despite not being as dominant as in the first set. Goffin was able to make it 4-4 after which we saw 4 breaks in a row. Nishikori saved twice for the match but ultimately had to end it in the tiebreak to move on to round 3.

In the final match of the day, we saw Dominic Thiem take on Lloyd Harris. The South African player has been steadily on the rise and in Dubai, he has been good. Thiem entered this event with high hopes but he completely failed today against Harris. He was simply not sharp enough today allowing his opponent too much on his serve while committing costly mistakes.

On the serve of Harris, he could not do much simply because Harris put up a serving clinic as he tends to from time to time. The surface is perfect for players with a powerful serve and his 97% winning rate of 1st serves was too much. A bad result for Thiem who did not play well in this Persian Gulf stretch after taking a lengthy absence following the Australian Open.