Rolando 2016

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 Swiss Stan Wawrinka will be working to produce a better
start than a year ago at the Japan Open, with the two-time grand slam
winner preparing for a test against unpredictable Czech Radek
Stepanek in the first round.
Wawrinka, the reigning Roland Garros winner, was ambushed in his
opening match a year ago at the Ariake Colosseum by local Tatsuma
Ito.
The 30-year-old top seed, ranked fourth in the world, wants to make
sure that kind of disappointment is not repeated when he takes to the
hard-court on Tuesday to face Stepanek, still a danger man whose
Tokyo participations date to 1999.
"I want to do better than last year, that's for sure," said Wawrinka,
who was forced to take a week away from his racquets after an ankle
injury last month forced him from a French event in Metz and which
kept him off the court with cramping.
"I'm back to a good balance, I had two solid ours of training on
Sunday and am feeling good about my game. I'll have to watch out for
Stepanek, he plays an aggressive game of serve and volley,
"But I'm relaxed with myself and my game and looking forward to this
week."
Wawrinka won his last match with Stepanek at the US Open two years
ago after losing his other five against the 36-year-old ranked 278th,
who won a round last week in Kuala Lumpur.
A pair of locals led play, with Ito taking almost two and a half
hours to defeat Yoshito Nishioka 3-6, 6-0, 7-5.
But it was holder Kei Nishikori who provided the heroics, beating
Croatian teen Borna Coric in a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback win in the
first round.
Coric, with wins over both Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, is tipped as
a player for the future, but could not handle the finesse of Japan's
top competitor, the 2014 US open finalist.
Nishikori laid on an ace for a match point and advanced with a serve
winner. "He made it hard for me at the start," said the number six,
winner of two of the last three titles at the event.
"It was a question of cutting down on the errors, I had to forget
about the first set, then I was able to produce some decent stuff."
Nishikori next plays American Sam Querrey, a winner over Alexandr
Dolgopolov 7-6, 6-4. Czech Jiri Vesely completed a brief programme
with his defeat of Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan 6-4, 6-4.