TENNISFILES (February 15) – Kei Nishikori won his 3rd consecutive Memphis Open title with a 6-4 6-4 victory over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
Nishikori withstood Anderson’s booming serves to secure a break at the end of each set. He utilized deft touch, speed, and aggressive baseline play to outgun the tall South African indoors.
The final marks the first time in the tournament that Nishikori did not drop the opening set. The South African only dropped 1 set en route to the championship match.
In defeat, the #2 seed Anderson had a solid week by scoring 4 wins against all his opponents and accumulating 150 ATP points.
With the win, Japan’s number 1 player defends his 250 points acquired from last year’s Memphis Open title.
