Nishikori stuns Nadal in bronze-medal match

Japan’s Kei Nishikori stunned an exhausted Rafael Nadal to win the bronze medal in the men’s singles at the Rio Games.

Having lost to Britain’s defending champion Andy Murray, the Japanese player was not going home without a medal, and he overcame Nadal 6-2 6-7(1) 6-3 to claim bronze, his maiden Olympic medal.

Nadal, clearly tired after an epic battle with Juan Martin del Potro that lasted more than three hours, was unable to add a second medal of the Games to his doubles gold.

It was a battle for the bronze, but one that was perhaps a little more one-sided than first expected, and not in a way that favoured the Spanish multiple Grand Slam champion.

Nishikori took the opening set with ease, losing just two games against an opponent whose performance looked weary from the off.

It looked like it would be a straight sets defeat for Nadal, as his opponent stormed into a double break, but the momentum just seemed to vanish from his game. Nadal pushed back from 5-2 down, breaking his opponent twice and saving match point to level. He eventually took the set on a tie-break, one in which he totally thrashed his opponent, to force a deciding set.

But Nadal could not fully capitalise on the decider he had developed, and although he took a few games, it was the Japanese player’s performance that dominated the final set and would eventually secure the bronze medal.

Nishikori’s bronze is Japan’s first tennis medal since 1920, where the nation picked up a pair of silvers.

If Nadal had won, it would have been his third Olympic medal – in addition to his doubles gold at Rio, he also picked up a singles gold at Beijing 2008.

Murray and del Potro will face off in the final for the gold medal – if Murray wins, he will be the first male tennis player to win two Olympic golds in singles.