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| Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan hits a shot to Denis Shapovalov of Canada during their men's singles final at the ATP Eugene Korea Open at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul, Oct. 2. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada to win the singles title at the ATP Eugene Korea Open on Sunday, prevailing in a tight contest for his second career tour victory.
The unseeded Nishioka beat the fourth seed Shapovalov 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in a scintillating match that went on for nearly two hours before a near sellout crowd of 9,931 at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul.
Nishioka is the first Japanese winner on the ATP Tour since Kei Nishikori in January 2019. Nishioka will also jump from No. 56 to a career-high No. 41 in the next world rankings.
Nishioka, 27, stunned the top seed and world No. 2 from Norway, Casper Ruud, in the quarterfinals here en route to his fourth ATP Tour final appearance.
Nishioka committed just 10 unforced errors to Shapovalov's 38. The Japanese won the final without the benefit of any ace, while Shapovalov had five aces but also six double faults against Nishioka's one.
"I was very excited to play here, so I think that was helpful for my performance as well," Nishioka said. "I think my service game worked very well for me. That was a big improvement."
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| Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan hits a shot to Denis Shapovalov of Canada during their men's singles final at the ATP Eugene Korea Open at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap |
Against Shapovalov, Nishioka got his first break in the set-deciding game for a 6-4 win. The Japanese then rallied from a 3-1 down in the second set for force a tiebreaker, and secured the victory when Shapovalov's forehand return went wide.
Neither player gave an inch from the get-go, putting on a riveting display of quality shotmaking that drew oohs and aahs from thousands of fans gathered at Center Court.
Serving in the seventh game, Nishioka found himself down 0-40, but somehow forced deuce from there and held his serve to go up 4-3.
He had his left shoulder treated after that game, and Shapovalov quickly pulled into a 4-4 tie.
With Nishioka up 5-4, Shapovalov went down 0-30 with a badly-missed forehand and a double fault. The Canadian grabbed the next two points, but NIshioka broke him for the set when Shapovalov's volley from right in front of the net went wide.
Tied at 1-1 in the second set, Shapovalov got his first break by peppering winners all over the court. He then held his serve to open up a 3-1 lead.
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| Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan kisses his trophy after defeating Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the men's singles final at the ATP Eugene Korea Open at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Nishioka kicked into another gear. He had answers for every shot Shapovalov had in his arsenal, sprinting all over the court to send impressive winners and force mistakes from his opponent.
After breaking the Canadian to pull into a tie, Nishioka held his serve to go ahead 4-3.
The two traded games to get into a tiebreak, where Nishioka jumped out in front 4-1 as Shapovalov's backhand kept failing him.
Shapovalov cut it to 5-4, but a long forehand by the Canadian set up the first match point for Nishioka.
Shapovalov stayed alive with a forehand winner, but the match ended on the next play when his return missed the target.
Shapovalov was gracious in defeat and joked that Nishioka was "just annoying" because he was "tricky to play."
"He didn't give me much. He was very, very low in unforced errors and was coming up with some big, big shots when I thought I had him," Shapovalov said. "So I found that annoying. It's definitely always tough to lose the finals, but I have to give credit to Yoshi. He played an amazing match and came up with all the right shots in the right moments."
Nishioka has some fond memories of South Korea, having won the 2014 Asian Games singles gold medal in the western city of Incheon. (Yonhap)
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