Kei Nishikori claimed the ninth ATP Tour title of his career when he retained the Barcelona Open title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spain’s Pablo Andujar.
“I’m very happy,” Nishikori said afterwards. “It was one of the best tournaments so far this year. I always love playing here.”
However, Nishikori’s win was not as comfortable as the score suggested and it took him an one hour and 34 minutes to overcome the world No66.
The pair exchanged early breaks in the first set, before Nishikori, the world No5, produced the decisive one in the 10th game.