GRIGOR DIMITROV ended a long wait between ATP titles, beating third-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 Sunday night to win the Brisbane International final and claim his first tournament victory since 2014.

    It took an hour and 48 minutes for the Bulgarian to conclude the clash.

    Prior to the Brisbane event, Dimitrov was yet to win an ATP title since the 2014 Aegon Championship in Queens. With a win over the Japanese Nishikori in the final, the 25-year-old’s drought — which lasted more than two years — has finally come to an end.

    Dimitrov revealed his goal was to capture a title in the first six months of the season. It didn’t take long for the five-time ATP champion to achieve the goal.

    “I think that was kind of an emotional win for me, but in the same time, it wasn’t unexpected,” Dimitrov said after the match.

    “I think I have put in the work. I think I have learned a lot. I have gone through some serious work and just — you know, I have just been working on myself, you know, on and off the court.”

    Dimitrov continued, “I think at some point, you know, things need to start, giving back to you a little bit. I just feel that — first, I feel fortunate enough to be at the final, to be so healthy and to being obviously in such a shape. But in the same time, I’m pretty humbled, because I have set myself quite high goals, actually, for the first six months, and one of them was actually to win a tournament.”

    “And as soon as I go to Melbourne, I’m going to just focus on what’s ahead of me, you know, the heat, best-of-five sets, other players. I just really need to stay focused now.”

    Nishikori called a medical time out after the second set of the match. He claimed he was bothered by hip. ”It was my hip. I’m not sure how bad (it is). For sure, it will take a couple days,” the world number five said. However, Nishikori should be ready for the Australian Open as he added: “It’s not a big deal, should be okay.”(SD-Agencies)