Kei Nishikori breaks down Carlos Berlocq

Kei Nishikori overcame a bruising first-set battle to beat Carlos Berlocq in the Australian Open second round this morning.

Berlocq and Nishikori were both strong on serve throughout the opening set, with even a tie-break struggling to decide an evenly-matched contest.

Nishikori eventually prevailed by the narrowest of margins, winning the breaker 7-4 to claim the early advantage after more than 70 minutes.

The Argentine struggled to maintain his high standard on serve, battling bravely but eventually falling two sets behind to a relentless Nishikori.

The 16th seed made light work of the third against his visibly tired adversary to seal the win by a flattering straight-sets scoreline.