Kei Nishikori came back to beat big-serving John Isner 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday for his first Citi Open title.
“I just cannot wait to play the US Open,” said Japan’s Nishikori, who lost last year’s final in New York to Marin Cilic, the man he beat in Washington’s semi-finals on Saturday. “I am just excited again, playing on a big stage.”
The second-seeded Nishikori weathered 18 aces from the eighth-seeded Isner, a 2.1m-tall American who fell to 0-3 in Citi Open finals.
Photo: AFP
“Certainly have not lost to any slouches,” said Isner, who was beaten for the title by Andy Roddick in 2007 and Juan Martin del Potro in 2013.
When a reporter mistakenly asked about dropping four Washington finals, Isner held up three fingers and said with a chuckle: “It is not that bad. Come on. I am not the Buffalo Bills just yet.”
He won a title in Atlanta, Georgia, last week.
“I am certainly a bit low on fuel... Maybe I did not have quite as much pop on my serve today,” Isner said. “I have thrown a lot of pitches the last two weeks.”
During the trophy ceremony, Isner made sure to thank his chiropractor and the tour trainer who massaged his right shoulder during a second-set changeover.
By then, things were trending Nishikori’s way. He won 91 percent of first-serve points overall, not facing a break point over the final two sets. He totaled 13 unforced errors, fewer than half of Isner’s 28.
With temperatures soaring, there were not many extended exchanges from the baseline, but when there were, Nishikori usually came out on top. An exception came in the last game of the first set, when Isner’s cross-court forehand forced an error to get to 15-30 on Nishikori’s serve.
Isner pounced, pounding consecutive forehand return winners. That gave Isner the set, and he waved his right hand, motioning to the crowd for more noise.
Nishikori quickly recovered, breaking right away to move ahead 1-0 in the second set.
In the third set, Nishikori broke to go up 2-1 when Isner dumped a forehand into the net. They would play for about another 25 minutes, but the final essentially was over.
Nishikori collected his 10th career title and third this year, moving to 43-9. Only No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Roger Federer have won more tournaments this season, and only Djokovic and No. 3 Andy Murray have won more matches.
Nishikori rose from No. 5 to No. 4 in yesterday’s rankings, equaling his career best.
In the women’s final, Sloane Stephens of the US won the first WTA title of her career, overwhelming Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-1, 6-2. In the men’s doubles, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won their fourth Citi Open title by defeating Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-4, 6-2.
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