Kei Nishikori won his home event, the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, for the second time on Sunday and strengthened his bid to become the first Asian player to qualify for the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals which will take place in November.
Nishikori defeated Milos Raonic of Canada in a replay of their 2012 final at this event. The score was 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.
The win placed Nishikori in fifth place in the ATP Race to London which is just 540 points behind number four Stan Wawrinka. Raonic is ranked eighth.
“I hope to get to London,” said Nishikori. “I am getting close, but there are two more [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000s and 500s left. These next few weeks will be really important for me.”
Nishikori was fresh from a title victory at Kuala Lumpur last weekend and he has now won four titles this season alone. Nishikori won $296,850 in prize money and received 500 ranking points.
“He was serving really well, with a lot of aces,” said Nishikori. “Luckily I got the first tie-break and that helped my motivation for the match. If I had lost the tie-break, 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. He had a lot of chances in the third set; he almost broke my serve a couple of times.
“It’s the first time I have won a title two weeks in a row. After the US Open, it was hard to maintain my motivation. I had to stay strong and focused, especially this week when I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent.
23-year old Raonic, now a three-time finalist in Tokyo, received $133,830 and 300 ranking points.
“It is disappointing to lose in my third straight [Tokyo] final,” said Raonic. “To be honest with you, other than the first year [2012] I felt I created my opportunities. Against Kei, he just played better when it came down to the third set [in 2012]. I have felt I have always been in the thick of things the past two years, so I would say two years ago was more disappointing.”
In doubles, Michal Prsysiezny and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won by defeating Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 6-7, 10-5. It was a first time pairing for the victors who entered the event as lucky losers. They also defeated the top-ranked doubles team of brothers Mike and Bob Bryan on their way to the title. They will split the $87,700 in prize money and earned 500 ranking points.
