Wawrinka Exits In Paris Stunner After Major Title

Paris - In Kei Nishikori's young career, great disappointment has never been far behind great triumph. The French Open provided no respite from the pattern, despite Nishikori playing some of his best tennis recently.

Nishikori, the No. 9 seed, was the first big upset at Roland Garros, losing to No. 62 Martin Klizan, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-2, on Monday.

But it may not have been much of an upset, all things considered. Nishikori, 24, had been struggling with a back injury for most of this month.

Still, under the tutelage of former French Open champion Michael Chang this season, Nishikori broke into the top 10 for the first time, becoming the first Japanese man to do so. This spring on clay, he won the tournament in Barcelona and reached the final at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid, going up a set and a break on Rafael Nadal.

Nishikori, however, retired from that match in the third set because of his back, and he did not play the next event in Rome because of the injury.

Nishikori also beat Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event in Miami in March, but had to withdraw from his semifinal against Novak Djokovic because of a groin injury.

This was Nishikori's latest disappointment at a Grand Slam event. Despite being heralded as a rising star for years, he had not advanced past the round of 16 at a major since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2012 Australian Open.

After battling through a first set that took nearly an hour, Nishikori faded, losing the first five games of the second set.

His serve was hampered throughout. He had 10 double faults, including five in the first set, and only got 50 percent of his first serves in for the match, leading to six breaks of serve.

Klizan is on a hot stretch of his own. A former Top-30 player who has risen more than 40 spots in the rankings this year, Klizan won the Munich title last month as a qualifier and was fresh off a doubles victory in Nice last week.

The start of play Monday was delayed by rain for about an hour. About two and a half hours later, play was suspended for another hour, with 15 matches completed.

As if wanting to keep the schedule moving with more rain in the forecast, Maria Sharapova made quick work of Ksenia Pervak in the first match on Philippe Chatrier, 6-1, 6-2, in 61 minutes.

'It's always nice to get out there on a day like this,' Sharapova said. 'It's good to play first match, as you know. Hopefully you'll be able to finish the match today with the weather conditions being as they are.'

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