2014 Japan Open (Tokyo) FINAL: [4] K. Nishikori vs. [3] M. Raonic

ATP 500 winner?


  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .

Bryan Swartz

Hall of Fame
Wow ... two big forehand returns, and Kei is two points from the match. Raonic trying to dig out again.

...

Great backhand saves by Milos, then goes long with the forehand. Triple match points!
 

Bryan Swartz

Hall of Fame
Converts the second! Sublime returning that last game, Nishikori wins 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4. Excellent match both ways, three straight Tokyo finals losses for Raonic isn't an easy pill to swallow. Broken in the final game for the first time all tournament.
 

MonkeyBoy

Hall of Fame
Commentator said Nishi is the first to regain tokyo title. WRONG. Sampras won it thrice.

EDIT: did he mean only japanese man to regain title?
 
I think Milos should skip Tokyo next year losing three years in a row in the finals is heartbreaking. Milos fought hard BUT he needs to watch the tape of this match with his team. He pushes Nishikori hard BUT right now Kei looks like the best of the players under twenty five. Milos if he wants to go higher needs dramatic changes in his return game and overall game. Milos is good BUT this loss confirms he needs to improve to beat the other top players.
 

Bryan Swartz

Hall of Fame
Must have meant something like that. He talked about it being the 20th year of the event, which would mean '95 was the first when it actually started in '72.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Commentator said Nishi is the first to regain tokyo title. WRONG. Sampras won it thrice.

EDIT: did he mean only japanese man to regain title?
Well, Sampras won it in '93, '94, and '96, but since he didn't play it in '95, maybe they don't count that as having "regained" the title in '96?
 

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
Amazing play from Nishikori in the 1st and 3rd

Raonic didn't S-V on this 2nd, not too much on his first either
this is a very poor strategic approach
I mean, when the other guy beats you 60% from the baseline, what are you going to lose?

But I appreciated his slicing and BH improvement
 

InvisibleSoul

Hall of Fame
Amazing play from Nishikori in the 1st and 3rd

Raonic didn't S-V on this 2nd, not too much on his first either
this is a very poor strategic approach
I mean, when the other guy beats you 60% from the baseline, what are you going to lose?

But I appreciated his slicing and BH improvement

I don't think that would have been an effective strategy. Nishikori was returning his serves way too well.

Very close match. Raonic could have easily won. He had 30-30 or deuce in three of Nishikori's service games in the 3rd, but squandered it every time.
 

Djokovic2011

Bionic Poster
Haha, I've just seen the end of the match highlights and I've got tears in my eyes after seeing what the win meant to Kei- what's that all about?! :smile: Big congrats to him and his team, back to back titles and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy!
 

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Haha, I've just seen the end of the match highlights and I've got tears in my eyes after seeing what the win meant to Kei- what's that all about?! :smile: Big congrats to him and his team, back to back titles and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Home tournament. He's a much bigger star in Japan now. Even his round 1 match was a sold out.
 
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