Party-pooper Medvedev stuns Nishikori to win Japan Open
Ailing Del Potro suffers shock Beijing final loss
TOKYO: Kei Nishikori’s hopes of a third Japan Open crown were dashed yesterday by Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev, who crushed the local hero 6-2, 6-4 to play party-pooper. Medvedev punched well above his world ranking of 32 and overpowered third seed Nishikori in a one-sided Tokyo final, taking just 63 minutes to scoop his third career title.
Nishikori, who won the tournament in 2012 and 2014, had not dropped a set before running into the beefy Russian and came into the match as the overwhelming favourite. But Medvedev snaffled an early break thanks to a wild backhand from Nishikori, who gift-wrapped the first set to his opponent with a tame double-fault.
A misfiring Nishikori, who won the last of his 11 career titles in Memphis two years ago, continued to struggle as his towering opponent grew in confidence. Chasing a first tournament victory after recovering from a lengthy wrist injury, the world number 12 never really threatened Medvedev’s serve and went out in a flurry of unforced errors.
Medvedev completed the upset with a drilled forehand to join a eye-popping list of Japan winners that includes Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe and Ken Rosewall.
In Beijing, Juan Martin del Potro said that he was battling illness after he suffered a shock defeat in the China Open final yesterday, losing 6-4, 6-4 to unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia. In the women’s final, world number two Caroline Wozniacki defeated Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3 for her 30th WTA singles title.
Argentine top seed Del Potro was clearly far from his best and has been fighting flu or a cold for several days in the Chinese capital. The world number four said that he did his best in difficult circumstances.
“I did everything that I can to be better for the final, it wasn’t enough time to feel 100 percent,” the 30-yearold said. “As you can see, my game today wasn’t as good as it was in the last matches in the tournament. I had some problem the last three days and it affected a little bit my game.”
Del Potro, who reached last month’s US Open final and is enjoying one of the best seasons of his injuryinterrupted career, is now in a race to be better for this week’s Shanghai Masters.
“I wasn’t able to play with that fire that I have in all my matches,” Del Potro added, saying however that 34th-ranked Basilashvili “played unbelievable”.
It is only the second title of 26-year-old Basilashvili’s career, having won his maiden ATP title in Hamburg in July.
There was to be no surprise in the women’s decider. Denmark’s Wozniacki was impressive all week, never dropping a set and rarely looking troubled, sealing her spot in the WTA Finals Singapore in the process.
The 28-year-old, who won her maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open at the start of this year, was imperious against the unseeded Sevastova. It is her second China Open crown-she also won it in 2010 — and 30th overall. “I’m just happy to have reached 30 today, I’m going to enjoy that,” said Wozniacki, a former number one.
“As a little kid I had a dream of becoming a professional tennis player, becoming number one in the world. “Then after number one in the world, I wanted to win a Slam, then I wanted to lift trophies.
“Having done everything, all of that, it’s pretty amazing. “I think I had a dream of that, but I don’t know how realistic I really believed that was going to be.” Wozniacki, whose form has been patchy in the second half of the year, was ruthless on her serve and wrapped up the first set with an overhead smash to underline her superiority.
Sevastova, 28, will find herself just outside the top 10 in the rankings after her run. “She didn’t give me any presents, it was tough,” said Sevastova, who retired in May 2013 because of persistent injuries, only to return in January 2015. —AFP