MALAYSIAN OPEN, KUALA LUMPUR 2014
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
by ATP Staff
|27.09.2014
© Malaysian OpenKei Nishikori is looking to win his third title of the season.Top seed Kei Nishikori withstood a stern challenge from Jarkko Nieminen on Saturday, beating the Finnish veteran 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the final at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur.
Nishikori converted six of his 13 break points and fired eight aces as he broke down Nieminen's resistance in one hour and 37 minutes. The 24 year old will face Julien Benneteau in Sunday's final as he looks to win his third ATP World Tour title of the season.
"Today was a little bit tough because he was playing well in the second set," said Nishikori. "Maybe I relaxed a little bit. I had a couple of unforced errors in the last game of the second set. I tried to concentrate again and focus in the first couple of games in the third set. Everything worked well after that and I finished well, so I'm very happy.
"The crowd is amazing. I feel like I'm playing in Japan. It's always fun on the court with this crowd. I'm very happy to play in front of them."
"I'm happy the way I played," said Nieminen. "It's tough to beat Kei at the moment. In the first and third sets, the games I lost were close. I felt I was competing well and following my game plan. Obviously in the end, Kei was a little bit better. This has been my most positive week this year and I'm taking a lot of confidence from it."
After reaching his first Grand Slam final at the US Open earlier this month (l. to Cilic), Nishikori surged into contention to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The right-hander is sixth in the Emirates ATP Race To London and is bidding to become the first Asian man to play at the season finale.
Nishikori has a 5-4 record in tour-level finals and is attempting to add to his victories earlier this year in Memphis (d. Karlovic) and Barcelona (d. Giraldo). He has a 2-1 lead over Benneteau in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
Looking ahead to the final against Benneteau, Nishikori said, "Julien is definitely a tough player, especially on indoor courts. He's been playing well this tournament. He can be a really dangerous player. I'll try to stay focused and play a good match."
Will it be third time lucky for Benneteau in Kuala Lumpur? The Frenchman, who has a 0-9 record in ATP World Tour finals, will contest the final at the Malaysian Open for the third year in a row after upsetting second seed Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4.
The fourth-seeded Frenchman finished runner-up at this ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament the past two years, losing to Juan Monaco in 2012 and Joao Sousa in 2013.
"I play well here," said Benneteau. "I like the conditions and this year I think it's a little bit faster. I'm very excited and happy the way I'm playing. I've given myself another chance to win a title."
Benneteau withstood 11 aces and didn't face a break point as he defeated Gulbis in 80 minutes. The right-hander stayed perfect against World No. 13 Gulbis, improving to a 4-0 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
"I didn't play great," said Gulbis. "I lost two easy breaks in each set, made a couple of easy mistakes. He was solid throughout the match and I made too many unforced errors. I cannot really explain why. He's a good player because he can return my serve and then I start to have problems because I never have any easy points."
| TV Schedule | Watch Live Online
Doubles Final Set
Second seeds Jamie Murray and John Peers will look to win their second title of the season when they face fourth seeds Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes in the Kuala Lumpur final.
Murray and Peers defeated third seeds Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea 6-2, 7-6(0) in 66 minutes. The British/Australian duo lifted the trophy in Munich (d. Fleming/Hutchins) earlier in the season and also finished runners-up at The Queen's Club and Winston-Salem. Murray is playing for his 200th tour-level win (197-180 record).
First-time pairing Matkowski and Paes dismissed Andre Begemann and Julian Knowle 6-2, 6-4 in 62 minutes. The 41-year-old Paes is looking to extend his streak of having won at least one ATP World Tour title each season since 1997. This year he has played just one final, finishing runner-up with Sam Groth in Washington. The 33-year-old Matkowski claimed his 350th match win and is bidding to win the Kuala Lumpur crown for! the second time, following success in 2009 (w/ Fyrstenberg).
Source : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/09/39/Kuala-Lumpur-Saturday-Nishikori-Nieminen-Gulbis-Benneteau.aspx
