Yoshihito Nishioka cruised to a straight-sets victory over Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan to claim the gold medal in the men's singles tournament at the 17th Asian Games on Tuesday.
Nishioka, the fifth seed here, beat No. 1 seed Lu 6-2, 6-2 to become the first Japanese player in 40 years to win an Asian Games championship. Toshiro Sakai was the last to accomplish the feat at the 1974 Tehran Asian Games.
"I was aiming for the gold medal and through everyone's support I could repay my gratitude," Nishioka said after his victory. "I didn't know (that it was the first time in 40 years). In Japan, tennis is becoming more and more popular, and hopefully this will make it even more a topic of conversation."