World No. 17 Kei Nishikori beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-6, 6-4 on Wednesday, the first day of the non-tour AAMI Kooyong Classic exhibition.
Playing in his final lead-up event to the Australian Open kicking off Monday, Nishikori won the tie break 7-5 to take the first set and pulled away after breaking 23rd-ranked Dimitrov in the third game of the second set.
"I managed to serve some aces and made hardly any mistakes during rallies," said Nishikori.
Nishikori reached the semifinals of the Brisbane International on Saturday before being eliminated by former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.