Richard made a successful start in Queens. He defeated his Japanese opponent Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3.
While it was to be seen that Richard had not played a tournament on grass for a long time and might still need to adapt to the surface, Kei Nishikori had not enough to seriously threaten him. And when it got tight, Richard could rely on a convincing serve (67 % of first serves, 7 aces) which helped him to save all breakpoints. His next opponent is Rajeev Ram from the US, they have never met before.
