Monday 8 October 2018 12:07, UK
Kei Nishikori will play Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s Japan Open final after both players came through their respective semi-finals.
Home favourite Nishikori beat Richard Gasquet 7-6 6-1 on Saturday, after Medvedev had upset Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-3.
On Sunday Nishikori will have the opportunity to arrest a run of seven consecutive defeats in ATP finals. He has twice won the Japan Open before.
Russia's Medvedev has enjoyed an exciting run to the final already - he came through the qualifiers to make the tournament proper, and is now the first qualifier in 16 years to make the final.
En route Medvedev, the world No 32, has beaten Milos Raonic and now the highly-touted teenager Shapovalov.
A win over world No 12 Nishikori will propel Medvedev above his compatriot Karen Khachanov in the ATP rankings as the Russian No 1.
"I said in one interview, kind of as a joke, my goal is to go higher than Karen at the end of the year," he said. "I was a bit far in the points in this moment. I'm only one win away from beating him at this moment, so it's just a good feeling."
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Japan Open & China Open in October while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
