WORLD No. 7 Kei Nishikori claimed an amazing fourth straight Memphis Open title in straight sets against Taylor Fritz on Sunday.

    Nishikori defeated the 18-year-old American 6-4, 6-4. “It’s been amazing. This is something I’ve never done before,” Nishikori said after his triumph.

    “But I also have to congratulate Taylor. He beat some very good players at this tournament and he has a bright future.”

    Nishikori, the top seed, got a bit more than he might have bargained for from the wildcard entrant, who had become the first teenager to make an ATP final since 1979.

    Fritz was playing his first game against a world top-10 opponent, and had never played a top-20 player before.

    Fritz used his big serve to full effect to shoot to a 3-0 lead in the first set as the Japanese star struggled to come to terms with the young American’s power.

    But Nishikori soon found his rhythm and got stuck into the American’s serve, while controlling his own service games to win three straight and tie the set at 3-3.

    As momentum looked to shift, Fritz showed great resilience to hold serve and regain the lead, but Nishikori tested the American’s defence with some big hitting and prevailed to win the next three games to seal the first set.(SD-Agencies)