TOKYO - Kei Nishikori's hopes of a third Japan Open crown were dashed Sunday by Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev, who crushed the local hero 6-2, 6-4 to play party-pooper. Medvedev punched well above his world ranking of 32 and overpowered third seed Nishikori in a one-sided Tokyo final, taking just 63 minutes to scoop his third career title. Nishikori had not dropped a set before running into the beefy Russian and came into the match as the overwhelming favourite. But Medvedev snaffled an early break thanks to a wild backhand from Nishikori, who gift-wrapped the first set to his opponent with a tame double-fault. A misfiring Nishikori, who won the last of his 11 career titles in Memphis two years ago, continued to struggle as his towering opponent grew in confidence.