Spain’s ‘Mr Consistent’ Roberto Bautista Agut has reached the fourth round of a grand slam for the seventh time in his last nine attempts with a shock victory over Japanese ninth seed Kei Nishikori.
The 29-year-old proved too solid for a listless Nishikori, winning 6-4 7-6 (3) 3-6 6-3 on Court Three on Friday.
Nishikori paid the price for failing to take his break point chances in the first set, especially at 4-4 when Bautista Agut saved one with a crisp forehand winner.
The Spaniard broke in the next game to take the opening set.
It was a similar story in the second set with Nishikori unable to convert any of the five break point chances that came his way before succumbing in a tiebreak.
Nishikori, who has never flourished on grass and is yet to go past the fourth round at Wimbledon, did battle back to take the third set but faltered in the fourth as Bautista Agut moved through to a last-16 showdown with Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
“I couldn’t maintain my level high enough to beat Bautista today,” Asia’s top player told DPA.
“He served well in every set. I had a really tough time on my return game.
“I had many chances, but he played well on the important points. Grass is not an easy surface and I don’t have good results on it. I’ve got to work on it every year.”
Seventh seed Cilic beat American 26th seed Steve Johnson in straight sets, while Gilles Muller, the 16th seed from Luxembourg, did it similarly easy against Britain’s Aljaz Bedene.