Top seed Kei Nishikori kept his bid for a third straight ATP Memphis title alive on Friday with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win over Austin Krajicek.
The 25-year-old Japanese star, ranked fifth in the world, needed 2 hours, 10 minutes to subdue the US qualifier, ranked 156th.
Nishikori seized control in the third set with an early break for a 2-0 lead.
Krajicek broke to level the set at 4-4, but Nishikori immediately broke back to avert the danger and served out the match.
“Obviously I didn’t play my best tennis, but I won today, that’s meaningful,” Nishikori said. “I think it’s a very good win today, because he was playing good tennis... He was hitting a lot of aces that I wasn’t really expecting.”
Nishikori, who saved eight of the 10 break points he faced, next faces the US’ Sam Querrey, who toppled third-seeded compatriot John Isner 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2).
Krajicek said Nishikori played better on the important points.
“Kei, obviously he’s one of the best players in the sport, so he comes up with it when it matters,” said the 24-year-old American, who saved two match points in a first-round win over Mikhail Kukushkin then downed fifth-seeded Ivo Karlovic in the second. “I gave myself an opportunity and thought I played well. It was a really fun match and the atmosphere was great — I enjoyed myself.”
Second-seeded South African Kevin Anderson also advanced, downing the US’ Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4.
Anderson fired 16 aces and saved all three break points he faced in the 65-minute contest. He is to take on American Donald Young, who defeated Australian Bernard Tomic 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 7-5.
World Tennis
AP, ROTTERDAM, Netherlands
Gilles Simon secured his first win over top-seeded Andy Murray in nearly eight years to set up a semi-final with defending champion Tomas Berdych at the World Tennis Tournament on Friday.
In the other semi-final, Milos Raonic of Canada faces 2013 Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland after both won their quarter-finals.
Simon saved four of the six break points he faced, and capitalized on Murray’s unforced errors to win 6-4, 6-2 on his third match point.
Earlier, Berdych escaped unscathed from a heavy fall and romped to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over another Frenchman, Gael Monfils. The Czech hit a flurry of baseline winners and served extremely well, winning 88 percent of the points on his first serve.
The third-seeded Berdych needed just 23 minutes to seal the first set, and broke for 2-1 in the second soon after calling the trainer to have his left wrist checked following his tumble when chasing a drop shot.
“It was a nasty fall,” Berdych said. “I’ll have to see how it evolves, but hopefully I will fully recover for the semi-finals.”
Monfils attended to the Czech after he slipped, stepping across the net to help him back on his feet and picking up his racket.
Meanwhile, big-serving Raonic was below-par, hitting only six aces in a gritty 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky, with both players dropping serve twice.
Wawrinka edged Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, with both players serving nine aces.
Wawrinka leads Raonic 3-0 in career head-to-heads, while Simon leads Berdych 6-3 — having won four of their past five meetings.
BRAZIL OPEN
Reuters
In the quarter-finals at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo on Friday, Brazil’s Joao Souza beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Italian Luca Vanni beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4); Colombian Santiago Giraldo beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6 (7/4), 7-5; and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-2.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS