Kei Nishikori of Japan rallied to beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday in the Citi Open semi-finals in their first showdown since Cilic beat Nishikori in last year’s US Open final.
“It is good to win against a top-10 player and especially Marin,” the second-seeded Nishikori said. “We had a battle last year at the US Open. It is great to have revenge today and I hope I can keep it going tomorrow.”
After grinding out a win over the 2m-tall Cilic, the 1.8m-tall baseliner now aims to chop down 2.1m-tall John Isner.
Photo: AP
In an all-American match, Isner smacked 31 aces and fended off three match points for a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(9) win over Steve Johnson in the second semi-final.
The first Japanese man to reach a Grand Slam final, Nishikori improved to 42-9 this season. Only Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have won more ATP matches this year, with 48 apiece.
The first Grand Slam final appearance for either Nishikori or Cilic occurred on Sept. 8 last year in New York. Cilic won the match 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Using that win as a tactical guide, he appeared headed for a similar result in the rematch.
The third seed broke Nishikori’s first service game and comfortably won the first set. He smashed one of his nine aces on set point.
“The first set was similar as the match we played last year. That was my idea of how to play,” Cilic said.
Things immediately turned rocky from there. Nishikori trusting his on-court instincts played a part.
Despite receiving assistance from a trainer for tightness in his left leg during the second set, Nishikori raced out to a 5-0 lead. He also broke Cilic’s serve opening the final set.
“I tried to hit a little more aggressive,” Nishikori said. “Some of the shots I have to close my eyes and just hit the ball.”
He double-faulted twice in the eighth game as Cilic tied the match 4-4. With the crowd cheering him on, the world No. 5 quickly countered. He broke Cilic again before serving out the match to reach his fourth final of the year.
Cilic now shifts focus to the remainder of the hard-court season, including defense of his US Open title.
In the women’s competition, American Sloane Stephens reached her first career final with a 7-6(4), 6-0 win over 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur. She is to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who won the first semi-final match in the women’s draw after top seed Ekaterina Makarova withdrew before the third set with the score at 4-6, 6-3.
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