Nishikori powers into US Open semis

Kei Nishikori has become the first Japanese man for almost a century to reach the US Open semi-finals 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 four hours 15 minutes on Wednesday, his second marathon clash after needing four hours 19 minutes to get past Milos Raonic in the previous round.

Nishikori will face either world No.1 one Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray, both former US Open champions, 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 morning, 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 24-year-old Nishikori, 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 per cent 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, levelling the match 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 and Nishikori came through.

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 No.4 had served up 18 aces but committed 78 unforced errors and managed to convert just two of 10 break point opportunities.

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