Japanese top seed Kei Nishikori lost a sixth successive final on Sunday (Feb 19) when he was defeated by Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in the Buenos Aires clay-court title match.

The world number five had already lost in the Brisbane final in January to Grigor Dimitrov which followed 2016 defeats in tournament deciders in Basel (against Marin Cilic), Toronto (Novak Djokovic), Barcelona (Rafael Nadal) and Miami (Djokovic).

For world number 66 Dolgopolov, it was a third career singles title and first since Washington in 2012.

Nishikori was seeking a 12th career crown but he will get another opportunity next week when he plays as top seed at the Rio clay-court tournament.

source: AFP