In a rematch of the 2012 finals, Kei Nishikori once again outlasted Milos Raonic in three sets to win the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.

This is the fourth seeded Nishikori's second title at the tournament and second consecutive ATP event since winning the Malaysian Open crown in Kuala Lumpur last week against Julien Benneteau of France.

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Both players were at par in the first set as they would not let up on their serves putting the set into a tie-break where Nishikori went ahead by two points to claim the set.

In the second set, the 23-year-old Canadian star found an opening on Nishikori's serve and took it to level the match at 1-all but the U.S. Open finalist broke back late in the second set to go up 5-4 and served out for the set and the match 7(7)-6(5) 4-6 6-4 which lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

The win gave the 24-year-old Japanese another 500 points in the ATP World Tour Finals and have surged him past U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the standings from 6^th to 5^th place.

The third seeded Raonic on the other hand claimed his third straight finals appearance of the tournament and has remained in eighth place just 175 points ahead of Britain's No. 1 Andy Murray and 205 points in front of Spaniard David Ferrer who is in 10^th place in the eight-man short list.

Although the win doesn't guarantee Nishikori's position in the road to London,  it has given him some breathing space. If his position holds, he will be the first ever Asian player to participate in the prestigious year-ending event at the O2 Arena.

Nishikori have won four ATP titles during the season and a big part of his amazing performance is due to his new coach 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang.

TagsKei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Michael Chang, andy murray, David Ferrer