Novak Djokovic has progressed through to the second round of the Madrid Masters with victory over Kei Nishikori.
The two stars now sit at 12th and 20th place respectively in the world rankings and had received byes through the opening round in previous stagings of the tournament.
Djokovic and Nishikori have also contested quarter-final and semi-final encounters in the past but in Monday's first-round contest, it was the former world number one who prevailed by a 7-5 6-4 scoreline.
The Serbian struck at the end of each set with Nishikori failing to prolong his hopes in a clash where he had matched Djokovic for much of the showdown, which lasted just short of two hours.
Djokovic will now play the winner of the match between Briton Kyle Edmund and Daniil Medvedev.
Darren Plant
