Kei Nishikori admits to relief after Barcelona Open success

Kei Nishikori has admitted that he was fortunate to claim a straight-sets victory against Pablo Andujar in the final of the Barcelona Open on Sunday.

Despite dominating the early stages of the match, Nishikori was forced to hold off a determined challenge from Andujar as the final progressed and he revealed his relief after defending the title.

"Finally yes, I am the champion, but in the beginning I was just playing one match at a time with so many tough players and all the Spanish players playing here," the world number five claimed at the post-match presentation.

"I tried to do my best and I am very happy. The second set was very hard and to be honest I don't know how I was able to win it."

Nishikori's success in Spain handed him the ninth ATP title of his career.