Nishikori Beats Raonic to Win Japan Open
Kei Nishikori continued his excellent play on the Asian swing as he defeated fourth-seeded Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 to win the Japan Open on Sunday. The victory comes on the heels of his title at the Malaysian Open the week prior, and is his fourth title on the tour this season.
In a rematch of the epic five-hour match the two played in the U.S. Open fourth-round, the two players brought their contrasting styles to the court. The big-serving Canadian fired 22 aces compared to Nishikori’s one, but the groundstrokes and return game proved to be the difference for the 24-year old from Japan.
“He was serving really well, with a lot of aces,” said Nishikori. “Luckily I got the first tiebreak and that helped my motivation for the match. If I had lost the tiebreak, I might have screwed up the whole match. He started aggressively and I think it was one of my toughest games against Milos. I am really happy to win.”
The loss in the title match marks three straight years that Raonic has been beaten in the Tokyo final, with the first coming to Nishikori 2012.
“It was a great match,” said Raonic. “We both played a high level of tennis. At the beginning, the match was passing by really quick, but in the second and third set it was really good. He has been playing with a lot of confidence, he went for his shots and it paid off.”
The final point of the match was symbolic of it as a whole, with Nishikori notching a break point to seal the match and win tournaments in back-to-back weeks for the first time in his career.
The win also earned him 500 Emirates ATP Ranking points, bumping him to fifth in the Race to London standings. If he qualifies, he would become the first Asian man to qualify for the end of the year event.
“I hope to get to London,” said Nishikori. “I am getting close, but there are two more Masters 1000s and 500s left. These next few weeks will be really important for me.”
Raonic is currently in the eighth and final spot in the rankings. Both players will look to improve their spot in the standings as they play in the Shanghai Rolex Masters this week. Raonic is seeded eighth and will take on Juan Monaco in the second-round, while Nishikori is the 7th seed and will meet American Jack Sock in the second-round.
