Nishikori 3-Peats At Memphis
Japan’s Kei Nishikori became the first player in history to win the Memphis singles title three years in a row, defeating South African Kevin Anderson, 6-4, 6-4, to win the 2015 Memphis Open at The Racquet Club of Memphis Sunday. Nishikori, the top seed and ranked No. 5 in the world, joins Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas as three-time Memphis champions. Only Jimmy Connors has more, with four.
Nishikori had come from a set down to win in each of his previous three matches in Memphis this week — including a grueling, 2-hour, 42-minute battle with Sam Querrey Friday night — but polished off the 6-foot-8 Anderson, the No. 2 seed here, on his fourth match point Sunday. Anderson, bidding to become the first South African to win the Memphis title since 1982, fought off three match points to tie the final game at deuce.
In the doubles final, fourth-seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg, of Poland and Santiago Gonzalez, of Mexico, defeated American Donald Young and Australian Artem Sitak, 5-7, 7-6(1) [10-8].
Singles and doubles champions at the 2015 Memphis Open received custom-made Gibson Memphis ES-335 Figured Gloss Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitars, which have been seen in the hands of legendary musicians such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, B.B. King and Larry Carlton. The guitars were donated to the Memphis Open through Gibson and the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.
