Reuters
Washington, August 10: Kei Nishikori broke the serve of American John Isner once in the second set and once again in the third and that was enough for the rising Japanese player to claim the Citi Open title here Sunday. The second-seeded Nishikori beat the big-serving Isner 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to celebrate his third title of the season and 10th of his career. It was a classic case of 5’7” inch David (read Nishikori) overcoming the 6’8” Goliath (Isner).
“It’s been an amazing year so far,” said the 25-year-old Nishikori, who will move up to fourth from fifth in the world rankings.
“I’ve had some good Grand Slam results, too. I defend the final in the US Open, so I will try to keep it going. I’m playing well and I’m looking forward to keeping it going at the US Open,” the Japanese added.
After Isner broke his serve in the final game of the first set to claim the opening set, Nishikori wasted no time getting back on track. The Japanese broke Isner in the first game of the second set, and again early in the final set to sweep to victory.
“It’s never easy against big servers,” said Nishikori, who lost to Isner in the quarterfinals in Miami earlier this year. “John, he’s not just a big server, but he can come in and he has great forehands. It was a close game, but I’m happy to avenge my earlier loss.”
Isner, coming off a tournament win last week in Atlanta and playing his 10th match in 12 days, fired 18 aces to Nishikori’s five, but the cool, calm Japanese was sharp with 23 winners and only 13 unforced errors in nearly two hours of tennis.