Kei Nishikori defeated Sam Querrey in three sets to reach his fourth consecutive Memphis Open final. A few pictures below, read full recap here.
The match schedule for Saturday consisted of two sessions, with the afternoon session beginning at 2 p.m. At “The MO,” which opened at noon, fans examined Robin Soderling‘s tennis balls…
sipped smoothies, played ping-pong, and danced to live music — sometimes all at the same time…
and watched the goings-on in Rotterdam and Buenos Aires:
Enjoy a few pictures of Kei‘s straight sets victory over Kukushkin and read our recap here.
The Featured Match on the daily draw sheet handed to fans entering the racquet club was Kei Nishikori vs. Mikhail Kukushkin. Nishikori had won their previous four meetings, and would prevail in this one as well, hitting shots that had the Kazakhstani player standing with his hands on hips, shaking his head at the ball he hadn’t expected to come back over the net.
Kukushkin did get the better of Nishikori now and then, reeling him in for some errors at the net, and the crowd applauded his winners as well as Kei’s. Find more pictures here.
For over fifteen years, Japanese and Tennessean corporate, cultural, and political movers and shakers have discussed ways of bringing Japanese talent and tourists to the southeastern United States and vice versa, which has in turn contributed to current opportunities for expatriates, emigrants, and enthusiasts in the Volunteer State to partake of Japan-related events. Nashville has hosted a cherry blossom festival every April since 2009, with the goal of planting a thousand cherry trees in the city by 2019. Japanese firms have contributed over 13 billion dollars to economic development in Tennessee, resulting in more than 35,000 jobs (disclosure: I am related to longtime members of the Japan-America Society of Tennessee). There is a Japanese Language School in Memphis and a biannual Bon festival at the Botanic Garden.
And, Kei Nishikori keeps coming back to Memphis in February, and he keeps winning. This brings journalists from Japan…
scholars from Indiana University…
and families from near and far, with signs in English and Japanese:
