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| ▲ Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan hits a shot to Denis Shapovalov of Canada during their men's singles final at the ATP Eugene Korea Open at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2022. (Yonhap) |
tennis tournament-S Korea
Nishioka beats Shapovalov for ATP Korea Open title
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada to win the singles title at the ATP Eugene Korea Open on Sunday, prevailing in a tight contest for his second career tour victory.
The unseeded Nishioka beat the fourth seed Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5 (7-5) in a scintillating match that went on for nearly two hours at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul.
Nishioka is the first Japanese winner on the ATP Tour since Kei Nishikori in January 2019. Nishioka will also jump from No. 56 to a career-high No. 41 in the next world rankings.
Nishioka stunned the top seed and world No. 2 from Norway, Casper Ruud, in the quarterfinals here en route to his fourth ATP Tour final appearance.
Against Shapovalov, Nishioka got his first break in the set-deciding game for a 6-4 win. The Japanese then rallied from a 3-1 down in the second set for force a tiebreaker, and secured the victory when Shapovalov's forehand return went wide.
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