Dimitrov shocks Nishikori
BRISBANE: Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov won his first title in over two years when he upset world No.5 Kei Nishikori in three sets to win the Brisbane International yesterday.
In an enthralling final between two evenly matched opponents, Dimitrov claimed the Roy Emerson Trophy 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, his fourth singles title on the ATP Tour.
The 27-year-old Nishikori went into the final as a firm favourite to win his first Brisbane title in six attempts.
The Japanese star started well and had Dimitrov struggling to hold his opening service game, but from then on the Bulgarian dominated the first set, breaking Nishikori twice to take the opener in 36 minutes.
Dimitrov took that momentum into the second set and was comfortable on serve, but at 2-2 he faltered and was broken, with Nishikori seizing the initiative and winning four games in succession to level the match.
Dimitrov had another chance to break at the start of the third set but Nishikori held on and both men were untroubled on serve until at 3-4, the Japanese player stumbled and gave Dimitrov a vital break.
The Bulgarian stepped up and showed no nerves as he served out the match, claiming victory in one hour, 48 minutes when Nishikori sent a backhand long.
In Sydney, Eugenie Bouchard made the most of her wild-card entry to the Sydney International, beating Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 yesterday in a firstround match.
Bouchard, a 22-year-old former Wimbledon finalist, was beaten in the first round of the Brisbane International last week in her first warm-up tournament for the Australian Open, which begins on Jan 16 and where she was a surprise semi-finalist in 2014.
Earlier, two-time Grand Slam singles champion Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-1, 6-4.
Meanwhile Czech world No.6 Karolina Pliskova has withdrawn from the tournament with a left thigh injury, tournament organisers said yesterday.
Italian Roberta Vinci took Pliskova’s open seeded spot with a qualifier/lucky loser set to come into the draw, organisers said.