Rio 2016: Nishikori beats Nadal to secure Japan's first tennis medal

Kei Nishikori won Japan's first Olympic tennis medal in almost a century when he captured bronze against Rafael Nadal, despite the weary Spaniard mounting a stirring mid-match fightback

Rio de Janeiro: Kei Nishikori won Japan's first Olympic tennis medal in almost a century when he captured bronze against Rafael Nadal, despite the weary Spaniard mounting a stirring mid-match fightback.

Kei Nishikori

Nishikori triumphed 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 to become the first Japanese tennis medallist since Antwerp in 1920 when the country won men's silver and men's doubles silver.

Nadal, the 2008 singles champion in Beijing did not go down meekly, fighting back from 2-5 down in the second set to push the play-off into a decider.

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