Kei Nishikori won hearts of his nation after conquering Milos Raonic – Rakuten Open 2012
Local favourite, Kei Nishikori, completed dream run at his home soil tournament in Tokyo after trouncing the Canadian number one, Milos Raonic, in a three-set thriller on Sunday. He recorded a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-0 upset victory against the sixth seed and became
the first home grown player to lift the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, an outdoor hard court event held in Tokyo.
The Asian number one lifted his game at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 Series event. Battling each other for the first time, Nishikori not only edged the Canadian star in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 1-0 but also pocketed
$308,130 in prize money.
The booming Nishikori stated after capturing his maiden year-to-date title and become the first Japanese to lift the Rakuten Open:
“I have not been able to play well in Japan until now, so I always thought perhaps I was not mentally strong enough to do so. But the match against Berdych, something changed. I was able to play much better yesterday and today as well. On one side of my
mind, I cannot believe I won the tournament, but at the same time, I feel that I’m happy I was able to do this.”
Nishikori made a thunderous entry at the Ariake Coliseum. He drew the first blood in the second game and cruised to a 3-0 lead. Regardless of squandering his edge in the fifth game, the Japanese stayed focused and prolonged the set to a tie-breaker. He edged
past Raonic in it and consequently clicked the opener with a 7-6(5) win.
Currently ranked 14th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Raonic rebounded in the following set. He blocked the lone breakpoint he faced to keep his entire serves. The Canadian got the breakthrough in the eighth game and pulled
out the equaliser with a 6-3 score line.
The 22-year-old went berserk in the final set when the match was poised at a knife edge. He unleashed flurry of groundstrokes and reeled off six games in a row. Nishikori swiped his entire serves without facing any breakpoint and cashed half of the six break
chances to clinch the decider with a bagel.
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