US Open finalist Kei Nishikori won his second ATP title in as many weeks on Sunday, beating Milos Raonic for the second time in three years in the Japan Open trophy match, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4.
Nishikori solidified his position for a place in next month's eight-man year-end final in London with his victory in two hours, 12 minutes.
The Japanese number one laid on back-to-back wins after taking the honours a week ago at Kuala Lumpur and is fast moving up as a challenger to the elite.
"I am really happy to win. He had a lot of chances in the third set; he almost broke my serve a couple of times," said Nishikori.
"He was serving really well, with a lot of aces. "Luckily I got the first tie-break and that helped my motivation for the match. If I had lost the tie-break, I might have screwed up the whole match. He started aggressively and I think it was one of my toughest games against Milos."
It was the second loss to Nishikori in the Tokyo final in three years for Canadian Raonic, who has been beaten three times this season by his rival while winning their Wimbledon fourth-round meeting.
Nishikori could not hold back his emotions as he fell to the court in victory before hugging former Asian hero and current coach Michael Chang.
Raonic has now lost three straight Tokyo finals, to Nishikori in 2012 and Argentine Juan del Potro a year ago.
"It is disappointing to lose in my third straight," said Raonic.
"Other than in the first year, I felt I created my opportunities.
"Kei just played better when it came down to the third set two years ago. I've always been in the thick of things the past two years, so I would say two years ago was more disappointing.
"It was a great match. We both played a high level of tennis. At the beginning, the match was passing by really quick, but in the second and third set it was really good.
"He's been playing with a lot of confidence, he went for his shots and it paid off."
Raonic lost in style with 22 aces, ten of them coming in the 45-minute opening set, which he lost in a tiebreaker.
The Canadian who, like Nishikori is bidding for a year-end spot with four weeks of the ATP season remaining, fired his 16th ace to win the second set and was broken for the only time in the match in the final game as Nishikori prevailed. "I hope to get to London. I am getting close, but there are two more Masters 1000s and 500s left," said Nishikori.
"These next few weeks will be really important for me."
Nishikori now has four titles in 2014: Memphis, Barcelona and Kuala Lumpur plus Tokyo. His record for the season is 49-10. Nishikori had to deal with hip pain during later matches over the course of the week but did not let the physical problems stop his progress as he claimed a seventh career trophy.
"It's the first time I have won a title two weeks in a row. After the US Open, it was hard to maintain my motivation. I had to stay strong and focused, especially this week when I wasn't feeling 100 per cent," said the Japanese.
Nishikori and Raonic are due to play in the last of the Asian events next week at the Shanghai Masters as the race to London starts to sort itself out.
