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Russian captures his third ATP World Tour title
Kei Nishikori walked onto Arena 1 at the Mushushino Forest Sport Plaza on Sunday with hopes of joining former World No. 1s Stefan Edberg (4) and Pete Sampras (3) as the only players to capture at least three titles in Tokyo. But Russian Daniil Medvedev spoiled the party, defeating the Japanese star 6-2, 6-4 to lift his third trophy of 2018.

"I'm just really happy. I've been showing amazing tennis here. I'm happy that what I have been doing all season in practice, physical workouts, worked out here in Tokyo," Medvedev said. "This is my biggest title, so I'm just really happy."

Medvedev claimed victory as a qualifier for the second time this year (also Sydney), extending the record to eight qualifiers who have triumphed on the ATP World Tour this season. From 2013-17, there were eight total qualifiers who lifted a trophy. And since 2004, only two players were victorious as a qualifier twice: Nicolas Mahut and Martin Klizan. In 2005, 2010-11 and 2016, there were no qualifier champions.


The World No. 32 is the first Russian to win the Tokyo crown, and he will become the No. 1 player from his country when the new ATP Rankings are released on Monday. Medvedev has come a long way since slipping to No. 84 after losing in the first round of an ATP Challenger Tour event in the first week of the season. He will climb to a career-best No. 22 with the 500 ATP Rankings points he earns.

"I'm happy. I'm just happy that everything I did this year in my life, on the tennis court in my job, because tennis is my job first of all, and I'm happy that I managed to do my job great this year," Medvedev said. "The year is not finished, so I'm going to try to reach even higher. I'm going to have a preseason where I'm going to try to improve even more and be better every day. If this will be the case, I maybe won't even have to look back anymore. But you never know what's going to happen tomorrow, so I'm just trying to focus on today."

The 22-year-old, who qualified for the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, dominated on serve against the in-form Nishikori, who is one of the best returners in the world. Medvedev amazingly won 32 of his final 33 service points in the match, losing just five service points in the match (38/43). In the pair's only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, at Monte-Carlo earlier this year, Nishikori broke Medvedev four times. So how did the Russian manage such a serving performance?

"I don't know," Medvedev said, laughing. "When I was going into the match, I knew it was going to be the key, my serve. Kei is a very good returner. I lost to him one time this year where he won because he was returning all of my serves and I didn't know what to do. Today I was serving amazing, even the first shots after the serve were amazing, so that's what helped me win the match."

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The Monaco resident did not drop serve in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or the championship match. And en route to claiming the title without dropping a set in the main draw, Medvedev held 45 of his 49 service games, a rate of 92 per cent. For winning his first ATP World Tour 500-level crown, Medvedev earns $384,120.

Nishikori remains one of the most in-form players, reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, the last four at the Moselle Open and now the final at his home event in his past three tournaments. The Japanese star, despite losing his eighth consecutive tour-level championship match, takes home $188,315 in prize money and adds 300 points to his tally.


Nishikori has come a long way since this time last year, when he was recovering from a wrist injury that kept him out from Montreal through the end of the 2017 season. he dropped as low as No. 39 this April, but is already back to No. 12.

"It's been a great couple months. After the US Open, I think I've been playing well. Maybe not today, but I'm happy to be in the final here again especially in Japan, my home," Nishikori said. "I've got to keep playing the same in Shanghai."

More Stories Like This In: Tokyo Story of the Season Match Report 2018

Danił Miedwiediew wywalczył trzeci singlowy tytuł w głównym cyklu. Rosjanin dostał się do turnieju ATP World Tour 500 na kortach twardych w Tokio jako kwalifikant, ale w niedzielnym finale pewnie pokonał Keia Nishikoriego 6:2, 6:4.

Rafał Smoliński
07 Października 2018, 11:13
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Getty Images / Koji Watanabe / Na zdjęciu: Danił Miedwiediew, mistrz Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018
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ATP Pekin: najlepsza para sezonu bez szans. Cenny triumf Łukasza Kubota i Marcelo Melo
W kwietniu bieżącego roku obaj panowie spotkali się w II rundzie zawodów ATP World Tour Masters 1000 w Monte Carlo, gdzie na na monakijskiej mączce Kei Nishikori (ATP 12) wygrał 7:5, 6:2. Po sześciu miesiącach Danił Miedwiediew (ATP 32) otrzymał okazję do rewanżu i to w finale imprezy Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, w których faworytem do triumfu był jego niedzielny przeciwnik. Japończyk nie sięgnął jednak po trzeci tytuł w kraju.
Nishikori rozegrał bardzo słaby mecz. Liczba popełnianych przez niego błędów była zbyt duża, aby skutecznie powalczyć z solidnym Miedwiediewem. W partii otwarcia Rosjanin przełamał w czwartym oraz ósmym gemie. Z kolei w drugiej odsłonie zaatakował w 10. gemie i pewnie wykorzystał pierwszą piłkę meczową przy serwisie reprezentanta gospodarzy. Po zaledwie 63 minutach triumfował zasłużenie 6:2, 6:4.

Miedwiediew zaprezentował bardzo solidny tenis z niewielką liczbą niewymuszonych błędów. W całym spotkaniu miał ich zaledwie siedem. Do tego posłał osiem asów i zanotował 15 kończących uderzeń. Nishikori był bezradny. Wypracował tylko jednego break pointa, którego nie zamienił na przełamanie. Miał zaledwie 10 wygrywających uderzeń i aż 27 pomyłek. W takich okolicznościach nie był w stanie wywalczyć 12. trofeum w głównym cyklu.

Niedzielny triumf to największy sukces w dotychczasowej karierze Miedwiediewa. Wcześniej pochodzący z Moskwy 22-latek zwyciężał w imprezach rangi ATP World Tour 250 w Sydney (jako kwalifikant) i Winston-Salem. Teraz sięgnął po tytuł w zawodach rangi ATP World Tour 500 w Tokio, za co otrzyma 500 punktów do światowego rankingu. Pozwoli mu to awansować na najwyższą w karierze 22. pozycję.

W grze podwójnej zwyciężyli Ben McLachlan i Jan-Lennard Struff. Japońsko-niemiecka para pokonała 6:4, 7:5 duet Raven Klaasen i Michael Venus, który ma wielką szansę na wywalczenie przepustki do londyńskich Finałów ATP World Tour. Dzięki tytułowi w Tokio McLachlan i Struff mają jeszcze możliwość zakwalifikowania się do kończącego sezon turnieju Masters. To ich pierwszy wspólny tytuł. Wcześniej obaj byli w półfinale Australian Open, Miami Open i ćwierćfinale Wimbledonu 2018.

Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokio (Japonia)
ATP World Tour 500, kort twardy w hali, pula nagród 1,781 mln dolarów
niedziela, 7 października

finał gry pojedynczej:

Danił Miedwiediew (Rosja, Q) - Kei Nishikori (Japonia, 3) 6:2, 6:4

finał gry podwójnej:

Ben McLachlan (Japonia, 4) / Jan-Lennard Struff (Niemcy, 4) - Raven Klaasen (RPA, 3) / Michael Venus (Nowa Zelandia, 3) 6:4, 7:5

Russian looking to crack the Top 20 with a big week in Shanghai
Daniil Medvedev largely has the same shots that he did a year ago – same forehand, same two-handed backhand, same serve. But mentally, the Russian has morphed into a completely different player.
He used to be beset with anger issues, throwing tantrums on the court or picking fights with umpires. YouTube has some of his best hits.
But this year, Medvedev has found a way to keep calm, and the titles, along with the best season of his career, have followed.
The 22-year-old celebrated his third ATP World Tour crown on Sunday, beating home favourite Kei Nishikori in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships final in Tokyo. It was Medvedev's first ATP World Tour 500 title, and he made it look stress-free, not dropping a set all tournament after qualifying.
“I know how to be focused only on tennis when I need to, and that's why I started to play even better... This year it has changed a lot and I'm happy about it,” he said.
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“ATP 500 is definitely a different thing, beating indoor [great players] like Milos [Raonic], Denis Shapovalov and Kei in his hometown is something amazing... You never win easy but doing this with easy scores, with amazing level of my game, I'm just really happy about myself and I hope to continue improving in this way.”
The improvements, he said, have come from experience. Two years ago, if facing a fight in an ATP World Tour final, Medvedev would have folded, said, “Not today,” and shrugged his shoulders as he walked away with a loss. It almost happened in the third set of the Sydney final against #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur.
Read More: Medvedev Focused On Continuing His Rise
“I was two breaks up, 4-0, 5-3, my serve. De Minaur comes back, like always. Five-all, 0/40 on his serve, becomes deuce. Probably two years ago I would just said, 'No, I don't want this anymore.' I would lose 7-5, but I managed to win it, my first title,” Medvedev said. “It gave me a big push in the year.”
Medvedev began the season at No. 65 in the ATP Rankings and was hovering around the 50s before he made a last-minute decision to play at the Winston-Salem Open in mid-August. The Russian beat Steve Johnson of the U.S. in the final for his second title.
Watch Highlights: Medvedev Upsets Nishikori In Tokyo

“Winston-Salem was a really big boost in my career, this season, because it made me go up the rankings straight into almost Top 30, and it's definitely another level to be Top 30 than being in the 50s or 60s,” Medvedev said.
He thinks some of his recent success, though, during the North American hard-court swing occurred because of what he did just before stretch began. Medvedev proposed to his girlfriend, and they married on 12 September.
“If it happens like this, you propose to your girlfriend, and you win two titles, one ATP 500, become Top 25, it means that somebody is showing you that you did what you need to do,” said Medvedev, who rose to No. 22 on Monday. “The best end of the season of my life.”
Watch: That's In Medvedev's Bag?

The 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist backed up his Tokyo title on Tuesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he, despite feeling tired from his long week in Japan, remained calm to beat home favourite Ze Zhang 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. On Wednesday, for the first time, Medvedev will play defending champion Roger Federer.
The Russian hopes Wednesday's match goes better than their practice session did 18 months ago. “He was just destroying me,” Medvedev said with a smile.
“But it's going be good... because I know that straightaway from the first one I will need to try to put pressure on him also, because that's what he does. If I stay passive, if I'm just going to try to put the ball in the court, that's not going to work out.
“It was my dream probably to play him once, because we all know that his career will not last forever... to play him in the tournament on the central court, especially in a Masters 1000, is something amazing.”

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows how Medvedev lifted his game in Tokyo
Some weeks, your serve gets white hot.
Daniil Medvedev is not ranked in the top 50 on the Infosys ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD over the past 52 weeks. In fact, his Return Rating of No. 40 eclipses his Serve Rating of No. 55.
No matter.
The 22-year-old Russian served his way to the biggest title of his career last week in winning the ATP 500 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018. Medvedev came through qualifying to win seven matches, only dropping one set along the way. In his past three matches, against No. 20 Milos Raonic, No. 31 Denis Shapovalov and No. 12 Kei Nishikori, Medvedev didn’t drop serve – holding 29 consecutive times.
See Who's Leading The Infosys ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD
An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Medvedev’s five main draw matches uncovers five keys to why his serve was “on” in the Orient.
1. Win The First Point
Medvedev used the scoreboard as a secondary weapon against his opponents, as he surged ahead 15/0 in 78 per cent (38/49) of his service games. He won 36 of 38 service games when leading 15/0 and nine of 11 when trailing 0/15.
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Winning the opening point of your service game typically “sets the weather” for the rest of it. We play a sport of getting ahead, which then creates pressure for the returner to do a little more than normal to break.
2. Close The Door
The 6’6” Russian surged to a 30/0 lead 28 times during the tournament, and never once let his opponent back into the game to break him. In 2018, Medvedev has led 30/0 in 252 service games, but was broken seven times from that commanding position. There was no letting the opponents back into the contest in Tokyo.
Watch Highlights: Medvedev Upsets Nishikori To Win Tokyo Title

3. Win Three In A Row
This statistic requires a double-take! Medvedev raced to a 40/0 lead in almost half (24/49) of all service games he played in the main draw in Tokyo. As a comparison, Medvedev has only led 40/0 in 27 per cent (173/640) of his service games in 2018, and 26 per cent (155/595) in 2017.
4. The 4x Factor
In Tokyo last week, Medvedev hit four times as many aces as he committed double faults – with 32 aces and only eight double faults. That is an outstanding ratio. In 2018, he has hit 359 aces and 202 double faults, for a 1.8 ratio of aces to double faults.
5. Second-Serve Prowess
In the 2018 season, Roger Federer leads the tour with second-serve points won at 60 per cent. Medvedev was from another world in Tokyo in this specific metric, winning a jaw-dropping 65 per cent (72/111) of second-serve points in his five main draw matches. For the 2018 season, Medvedev is averaging only winning 51 per cent (882/1722) of his second serves.
Medvedev is in action Wednesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters against Federer in the featured night match. Another opportunity to serve up more success.

Krajinovic, Seppi also progress to quarter-finals

Second seed Daniil Medvedev began his quest for a fourth ATP World Tour crown of the season with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia on Thursday at the VTB Kremlin Cup. He will next challenge Lithuanian lucky loser Ricardas Berankis in the quarter-finals.

The 22-year-old Russian, who is now 38-21 on the year, has lifted trophies at the Sydney International (d. De Minaur), the Winston-Salem Open (d. Johnson) and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 (d. Nishikori).

Fourth-seeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic struck 12 aces past Evgeny Donskoy, the 2015 semi-finalist from Russia, for a 7-5, 6-4 second-round victory. He will next play Italian Andreas Seppi, who battled hard to overcome Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France 7-6(6), 7-6(5) in one hour and 51 minutes. Seppi recovered from 1-4 down in the first set and saved five set points – three at 4-5 and two at 4/6 in the tie-break.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mirza Basic advanced to the quarter-finals when fifth seed Nick Kyrgios of Australia pulled out ahead of their match with an elbow injury. He will prepare to meet third-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov.

Did You Know?
There have been seven different Russian winners since the VTB Kremlin Cup was first staged in 1990. Andrei Cherkasov (1990-91), Alexander Volkov (1994), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1997-2001), Nikolay Davydenko (2004, 2006-07), Igor Andreev (2005), Igor Kunitsyn (2008) and the recently retired Mikhail Youzhny (2009) are homegrown champions.