Japanese beats Stan Wawrinka to become first from country in 96 years to reach US Open semi-final on a day when Novak Djokovic gets the better of Andy Murray in three sets
Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man for almost a century to reach the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday after securing an epic 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9/7), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win over Stan Wawrinka.
Nishikori, the 24-year-old 10th seed, triumphed in 4 hours 15 minutes, his second marathon clash after needing 4 hours 19 minutes to get past Milos Raonic in the previous round.
Nishikori will face world number one Novak Djokovic who — beat Andy Murray 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (1/7), 6-2, 6-4 — on Saturday for a place in Monday’s championship match.
Ichiya Kumagae was the last Japanese man to reach the semi-finals of the US Championships in 1918.
Nishikori, whose match against Raonic ended at a record-equalling 2:26am on Tuesday, was stunned by his win over the third seeded Wawrinka, the Australian Open champion who had won the pair’s two other meetings without dropping a set.
“I was tight at the start but my body was OK. I felt more confident after the first set,” said the 24-year-old, who will be playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final having made the quarter-finals in Australia in 2012.
“It feels amazing. I am playing well and I hope to play at 100 percent in the semi-finals.”
Nishikori stands at 1-1 against Djokovic and trails Murray 3-0 having lost to the Briton in the quarter-finals in straight sets in Melbourne two years ago. Wawrinka, bidding for a second successive semi-final place, swept through the first set on the back of a break in the second game with Nishikori managing just two winners as the hangover from his early Tuesday morning heroics appeared to affect him.
But he was transformed in the second set, forcing the Swiss to save three break points in the eighth game before levelling the quarter-final in the 12th when Wawrinka served up his fourth double fault of the afternoon.
In a gruelling third set, Nishikori stretched to a 5-2 lead but after squandering a set point in the ninth game, the tiebreak was required to separate them.
Wawrinka, 29, saved another set point with a nerveless passing shot, then the Japanese performed the same escape act with a backhand down the line. But Nishikori came through the breaker much to the delight of watching coach Michael Chang.
The 10th seed needed a medical timeout after three games of the fourth set to treat a problem with his right toe and the set was as tight as his strapping as Wawrinka went on to take the tiebreaker and make the tie a one-set shootout.
Wawrinka missed a break point in the fifth game of the final set and he eventually cracked in the 10th when Nishikori took victory on a Swiss netted forehand. The world number four had served up 18 aces but committed 78 unforced errors and managed to convert just two of 10 break point opportunities.
Meanwhile, Djokovic, the 2011 champion, reached his eighth consecutive US Open semi-final by downing Murray for his 13th win in 21 meetings against his childhood rival who had taken the 2012 title.
Wimbledon champion Djokovic and Murray had spent a record-equalling 4 hours 54 minutes contesting the 2012 final and their quarter-final clash threatened to surpass that mark when they needed over two hours to get through the first two sets of a tie that started on Wednesday and finished Thursday.
By the end, however, Murray was struggling with what appeared to be a recurrence of his long-standing back problem, a legacy of having spent three and a half hours more on court than Djokovic in getting to this stage. But victory was also a testament to the top seed’s intimidating defensive skills as he saved 12 of 16 break points in the 3-hour 32-minute encounter which saw Murray commit 65 unforced errors to Djokovic’s 48.
“We both gave our best and at times the tennis was not nice but that was due to the intense physical battle in the first two sets,” said Djokovic.
“I didn’t expect anything less from Andy. Our last few matches have been three and four hours and he has a lot of quality on all sorts of surfaces. I knew it would be a tough match and that the more aggressive player would win.”
Djokovic and Nishikori are 1-1 in career meetings but their last clash was three years ago. “It’s great for Kei and Japan for him to be in the semi-final. He serves and moves very well,” said the world number one who has made the final in New York in the last four years.
In a breathtaking first set of big-hitting, fine angles and lung-busting sprints, the two opening games were breaks, taking 13 minutes to complete. Djokovic raced into a 4-1 lead but Murray pulled it back to 4-4 while the ninth game featured a 29-shot rally and the 10th a 104mph forehand off the Murray racquet.
But it was the world number one who played the more composed tiebreak, helped by a third Murray double fault and a rare loose backhand volley as Djokovic nosed in front after 73 minutes.
Murray struggling
Djokovic was 3-1 up in the second set before Murray clawed his way back to 3-3. They exchanged breaks again to 4-4 with the Serb picking up a time violation before saving a set point in the 11th game.
Murray, however, swept through the tiebreak to level the tie as the clock nudged midnight and Djokovic dropped his first set of the tournament.
For the third set in succession, Djokovic grabbed the early break at 3-1 and this time held on, even piling on the agony with another break of a suddenly lacklustre Murray to claim the set 6-2. Clearly struggling physically, Murray cracked in the 10th game of the fourth set with the match over when he netted a backhand.
Sania in final
Sania Mirza is in line to win her third Grand Slam title and first with new partner Bruno Soares as the top seeded pair struggled past Yung-Jan Chan and Ross Hutchins to reach the mixed doubles summit clash, here. The Indo-Brazilian team overcame the unseeded but fighting Tapiei-German combine 7-5 4-6 10-7 in the semifinals, which lasted one hour and 33 minutes. The last-four pairs contest was very close as both the teams broke each other four times and Sania and Soares won overall 74 points, only three more than their rivals.
Sania and Soares are up against unseeded pair of Abigail Spears from the USA and Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico. It will be Sania’s fifth mixed doubles final appearance at the Grand Slam level, having won Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2012) with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.
The 27-year old had reached the Australian Open mixed doubles final this year also but ended runners-up with Romanian partner Horea Tecau. Sania also has the opportunity to reach only her second women’s doubles final at Majors as she prepares to take on Swiss comeback queen Martina Hingis and Italian Flavia Pennetta in the semi-finals.