Kei Nishikori claims his first title since 2016 as he outclassed Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, 6-4 3-6 6-2 in the finals of Brisbane International on Sunday.
Since winning the ATP event in Memphis in 2016, the Japanese star was hampered by a wrist injury and had not won a tournament. Medvedev, on the other hand, had won three titles last year, one of which was against Nishikori which makes this victory an act of sweet revenge.
Nishikori dominated throughout apart from one poor service when Medvedev earned a temporary reprieve and he broke the Japanese player’s serve to extend the match. But Nishikori who had lost nine ATP finals in three years broke Russian player’s serve to storm into a 5-1 lead in the decider and wrapped the game in just 2 hours, 6 minutes, at Pat Rafter Arena.
“I was able to return very deep and I think I put him under pressure”, Nishikori said after clinching the game.
He hopes to keep this momentum in the coming Australian Open also in which he had never gone beyond the quarterfinals.
“The main goal is to do well in the Australian Open, but I am really happy that I was playing really well this week”.
