ATP Malaysian Open: Top seed Kei Nishikori beats Julien Benneteau to take title

Japanese top seed Kei Nishikori saw-off the challenge of Julien Benneteau to win his first Malaysian Open title on Sunday.

Nishikori prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 over the French fourth seed to continue his good form after recently reaching the US Open final.

Both players began the showpiece in fine fettle, trading 17 shots in the first rally of the ATP Word Tour 250 series tournament in Kuala Lumpur.

Fourth seed Benneteau secured an early break to lead 3-1 but Nishikori was able to break back to force the set to tie-break, which he won thanks to two back-hand volley winners at full stretch.

The world No 8 then broke Benneteau to go 4-3 up in the second set and secured victory with a power serve, which Benneteau returned to the net.

It was the Nishikori’s third title of the year, following wins in Barcelona and Memphis, and the victory boosted his hopes of becoming the first Asian man to compete at the ATP Tour Finals in London in November.

He said: "It was a tough match. After I won the first set, I relaxed and was able to play attacking tennis."

The defeat was Benneteau’s third successive loss in the final of the event and means the 32-year-old is still waiting for his first ATP Tour title, having now been a runner-up on ten occasions.

He said of his latest loss: “Kei was simply too good in the key moments, especially at the end of the first set.
            
"I had some chances, but against these kinds of players, they are small chances and you have to take them. I tried to play my best and I almost did it.
          
"I'm disappointed with the loss, but very happy with the level of my game. It's hard to keep that level of intensity in every point and every game. I need to improve this to be more consistent."

But there was to be no doubles title joy for Britain's Jamie Murray, who lost 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 10-5 along with Australia's John Peers to Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes.