Kei Nishikori claimed his first title in nearly three years with victory in the Brisbane International final.

The world number nine defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, the man who beat Britain’s Andy Murray, 6-4 3-6 6-2.

The 29-year-old Japanese’s last tournament win was in Memphis in February 2016 but since then he has had time out with a wrist problem.

“I was able to return very deep and I think I put him under pressure.” he said.

Nishikori dominated throughout apart from one poor service game in the second set which allowed Medvedev, the world number 16, to level it at one set all.

But Nishikori recovered to storm into a 5-1 lead in the decider and he soon wrapped up victory.

And he hopes that he can continue the momentum into the Australian Open, where he has never been beyond the quarter-finals.

“I’m really happy that I’ve been playing really well this week,” he added.

“Even if I lost today, I think I was very confident, and some of the matches I played some of the best [players].

“So, I’m happy to go in Melbourne, and I feel like it’s one of my favourite tournaments there.”

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