Tennis Frontier

Tag: Rakuten Open Tokyo

  • Nishikori Denies Raonic in Tokyo

    Nishikori Denies Raonic in Tokyo

    Kei Nishikori

    Tokyo brought defeat for the top two seeds in the first round, which was all the opening the third seed, Kei Nishikori of Japan, and the fourth seed, Milos Raonic of Canada, needed to march into the final.

    In a tight three sets, Nishikori beat Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, in a match which lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes.

    Tokyo has been good to Japan’s top player — this was Kei’s second title there.  He now has four titles in 2014, along with a Grand Slam final appearance at the US Open.  It’s safe to say these are Kei’s best career achievements.

    But there is more to be achieved.  Both Nishikori and Raonic are still fighting for the last five spots that are yet to be filled in the race to the year end championship in London.

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    Click here to discuss the Tokyo tournament in our Discussion Forum.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Sum_of_Marc

  • Djokovic Wins Beijing, but Nadal Regains No. 1 Ranking

    Djokovic Wins Beijing, but Nadal Regains No. 1 Ranking

    Novak Djokovic lost his spot atop the ATP World Rankings, but played a nearly flawless match to beat Rafael Nadal for the title in China, his fourth, 6-3, 6-4.   He broke the Spaniard at the start of both sets, and never dropped his own serve.

    Nadal, however, will retake the No. 1 slot when the rankings come out on Monday.  This is his third climb to the top, since he lost it to Djokovic in July of 2011, and caps off an amazing return-from-injury season, when he came back at No. 5, his lowest ranking since 2005.

    Most weeks at No. 1:

    Roger Federer – 302

    Pete Sampras – 286

    Ivan Lendl – 270

    Jimmy Connors – 268

    John McEnroe – 170

    Bjorn Borg – 109

    Rafael Nadal – 102 (103, as of tomorrow)

    Andre Agassi – 101

    Novak Djokovic – 101

    Lleyton Hewitt – 80

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    Juan Martin Del Potro beat Milos Raonic to take the Rakuten Open in Tokyo, his third title of the year, and 16th career trophy. The win raises his ranking to #5.

    Credits: Cover Photo: Marianne Bevis (Creative Commons License)