Kei Nishikori on Thursday saved three straight match points in the deciding set before outlasting Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in the Geneva Open quarter-finals.
Second seed Nishikori was serving at 4-5, 0-40 before rallying to beat the 62nd-ranked South African, who fired 14 aces without allowing any by his opponent.
Top-seeded Stan Wawrinka also dropped the first set in his quarter-final against the US’ Sam Querrey, although ultimately had an easier passage in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win.
After Nishikori’s escape in the 10th game of the third set, he also trailed 4-2 in the tiebreaker. Still, he soon created a second match point with a forehand crosscourt service return for a winner.
He clinched with a forehand winner off a looping net-cord ball.
“There haven’t been too many times that I’m down match point and win, so it’s great for me,” Nishikori said.
The ninth-ranked Japanese was yesterday scheduled to face 33rd-ranked Mischa Zverev of Germany in the semi-finals.
Russian-born Zverev, who came through qualifying, beat fifth-seeded American Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-5.
Wawrinka was scheduled to next face 85th-ranked Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, who beat Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, a lucky loser in qualifying, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.
OPEN PARC LYON
AP, LYON, France
Top-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada on Thursday eased into the semi-finals of the Open Parc Lyon with a straight-sets victory over Portuguese qualifier Gastao Elias.
Elias had defeated Juan Martin del Potro on Wednesday, but Raonic was never in trouble as he won 6-4, 6-3. He is next to play third-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat No. 5 Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-0.
French second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained on course for a third ATP Tour title of the season with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Karen Khachanov of Russia.
Tsonga is to face Nikoloz Basilashvili after the Georgian beat Argentine qualifier Nicolas Kicker 6-3, 6-1.
Lyon has been added to the calendar as a replacement for the Nice Open, a traditional warm-up for the French Open, which starts in Paris tomorrow.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but