Basilashvili beats Del Potro in Beijing, Medvedev upsets Nishikori for Tokyo title

Nikoloz Basilashvili won the second 500-point title of his career and the second of his 2018 campaign when he defeated Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-4 in the China Open final on Sunday. Basilashvili took advantage of an ill Argentine to lift the trophy after one hour and 39 minutes.

“I was in a really good shape coming up to this tournament,” Basilashvili explained. “I’m really feeling well on court. Playing against Juan, he was sick today for sure; I could see that. But he put me in really tough situations. I needed to really work it, to work hard to win the points. I really enjoyed this match. To win a title here in Beijing means a lot. It’s one of the best tournaments.”

“I gave all my effort to play and gave a big effort to finish the match,” Del Potro assured. “Basilashvili played so good; he deserves to hold the trophy and he is a very good champion.”

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A surprise also took place at the Japan Open, where qualifier Daniil Medvedev upset Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4 in Sunday’s championship match. Mevedev won a dominant 25 of 27 first-serve points and fought off the only break point he faced to triumph after one hour and three minutes of play.

A third career title in Tokyo would have moved Nishikori to No. 9 in the race to the Nitto ATP Finals; instead, he is 100 points behind John Isner for the first alternate spot and 705 back of Dominic Thiem for the all-important No. 8 position.

“It’s been a great couple months,” reflected Nishikori, who reached the U.S. Open semifinals. “After the U.S. 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. I’ve got to keep playing the same [next week] in Shanghai.”

“When I was going into the match, I knew [my serve] was going to be the key,” Medvedev commented. “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.

“This is my biggest title, so I’m just really happy.”

Both Medvedev and Basilashvili have surged into the top 20 in the race to London.

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