Kei Nishikori has reached his third ATP final of the season after beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4 6-3 at the Vienna Open.

The world No.11 is after his 12th career title but first since winning in Memphis in February 2016. The Japanese ace has lost eight straight finals since.

His opponent on Sunday will be either Kevin Anderson or Fernando Verdasco, who played the second semifinal later on Saturday.

Currently in ninth place in the race for the ATP Finals, a win would move Nishikori closer to a starting berth for the eight-man event in London next month.

Nishikori held serve throughout against Kukushkin, who came through qualifying. He used his first break point to close out the first set before running into a 3-0 lead in the second.