In the first round of the men's singles at the French Open, one of the four major tennis tournaments, Yoshihito Nishioka defeated an American player to advance to the second round for the first time in two years.
On the third day of the French Open, the men's singles first round was held, where 3th seed and world No. 1 Nishioka faced world No. 27 J.J. Wolff of the United States.
Nishioka made a number of mistakes in his shots in the first set, and after losing five games in a row from the third game and dropping 33-50, he suffered from his opponent's powerful forehand in the second set and lost two sets in a row with a 1-3 lead.
With no time left in the third set, Nishioka broke first in the fifth game and struggled to hold on to his service game to win 5-1.
In the fourth set, he grabbed two breaks first to seize the momentum and took a 6-2 lead with a backhand return in the ninth game.
In the fifth and final set, both sides took two breaks in the eighth game, and after Nishioka succeeded in breaking for the third time, he scored a powerful smash at the end of the ninth game to take a 3-6 lead.
Nishioka came from behind to win a match that lasted more than three hours with a full set count of 2-3 to advance to the second round for the first time in two years.
Nishioka: "We were able to do a lot of things to keep our composure."
After the match, Nishioka said, "I probably haven't won since I won two sets in a row, so I thought it was tough emotionally. We were able to keep our composure through various efforts."
He added, "If we have a track record like this match, we will be able to remember when we are in a similar situation in the future, and I think the experience of winning from behind is the reason why top players are so strong, so it was great that I was able to gain one experience."