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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\n\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   TOKYO (AP)  -- Eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-0 on Sunday to win the Japan Open.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   The 22-year-old Nishikori won his second career ATP tour title and first in more than four years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Nishikori, ranked No. 17, thrilled the home crowd by defeating the sixth-seeded Raonic in front of a packed house.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   He lost just two games on serve against Raonic, who lacked the spark he showed Saturday when he ousted top-seeded Andy Murray in the semifinals. Raonic was undone by unforced errors in the loss.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   \"To have won this tournament in Japan is a very happy occasion for me,\" Nishikori said. \"I made an effort to approach today's match as the challenger.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Nishikori, a native of Shimane Prefecture in southern Japan, is the first Japanese player to win the tournament in its 41-year history.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Nishikori broke Raonic to go up 2-0 in the final set with a nice backhand down the line. His confidence growing, Nishikori began coming to the net more frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   After holding serve to lead 3-0, Nishikori rifled a two-handed backhand down the line to break for 4-0 and went on to close it out 6-0 with one more break.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   \"I wish I could have started off serving better,\" Raonic said. \"He was reading my serve really well from the beginning and that usually doesn't happen. I didn't create the opportunities and go for it like the previous two days.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Nishikori broke Raonic in the second game of the opening set, only the second time in 44 games in the tournament that Raonic dropped a game on serve. But Raonic later broke back and eventually forced a tiebreaker.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Nishikori squandered two set points at 6-5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Raonic went up 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but Nishikori won seven of the next nine points to clinch the set. Raonic struggled with his backhand returns and sent one long to end the tiebreaker.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Raonic found his rhythm in the second set and began to serve better, hitting eight aces, just as Nishikori appeared to tire.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Nishikori's previous victory on the ATP tour came in Delray Beach, Fla., in February 2008 when he was just 18.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   Raonic had won two tournaments this year, in Chennai, India, and San Jose, Calif.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/2012/10/07/nishikori-wins-japan-open>