Page 19 - ATD10August2015

SPORTS A19
Monday 10 August 2015

Nishikori comes back to beat Isner for 1st Citi Open title

HOWARD FENDRICH ner, a 6-foot-10 American and the tour trainer who a break point over the last when there were, Nishikori
AP Tennis Writer who fell to 0-3 in Citi Open massaged his right shoul- two sets. And he totaled 13 usually came out ahead.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kei finals. der during a second-set unforced errors, fewer than An exception came in the
Nishikori already was go- “Certainly have not lost to changeover. half of Isner’s 28. last game of the first set,
ing to enter the U.S. Open any slouches,” said Isner, By then, things were trend- With the temperature in when Isner’s cross-court
brimming with confidence, beaten for the title by Andy ing Nishikori’s way. He won the mid-80s, there were not forehand forced an error
thanks to his runner-up fin- Roddick in 2007 and Juan 91 percent of first-serve many extended exchang- to get to 15-30 on Nishikori’s
points overall, not facing es from the baseline, but serve.q

Sloane Stephens poses with he trophy after she beat Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova, of Russia, 6-1, 6-2, in a women’s singles final
match at the Citi Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Aug. 9,
2015, in Washington.

Associated Press

ish there a year ago. A title Martin del Potro in 2013.
at a hard-court tuneup a When a reporter mistaken-
few weeks before heading ly asked about dropping
to Flushing Meadows only four Washington finals, Is-
helps. ner held up three fingers
Getting his game in shape and said with a chuckle:
ahead of the season’s last “It’s not that bad. Come
Grand Slam tournament, on. I’m not the Buffalo Bills
Nishikori came back to just yet.”
beat big-serving John Isner He won a title at Atlanta
4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday for last week.
his first Citi Open title. “I’m certainly a bit low on
“I just can’t wait to play the fuel, probably,
U.S. Open,” said Japan’s but as far as health goes,
Nishikori, who lost the 2014 there’s nothing (injured)
final in New York to Marin per se. ... Maybe I didn’t
Cilic, the man he beat in have quite as much pop
Washington’s semifinals on my serve today,” Is-
Saturday. “I’m just excited ner said. “I’ve thrown a
again, playing on a big lot of pitches the last two
stage.” weeks.”
The second-seeded Nishi- Tellingly, during the trophy
kori weathered 18 aces ceremony, Isner made sure
from the eighth-seeded Is- to thank his chiropractor