Nishikori Battles On In New York

Kei Nishikori did not play a match after the Rogers Cup last August. So the 28-year-old decided to build up his match toughness on the ATP Challenger Tour to begin the new campaign. And it looks like that move paid off.

The Japanese superstar battled past Moldovan Radu Albot to advance to the semi-finals of the New York Open 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Friday evening. Nishikori, who won the Memphis Open four years in a row (2013-2016) before the event moved to Long Island this year, is just two matches away from his claiming his first ATP World Tour title since 2016 Memphis.

“It was a very tough start. I think he was playing very good tennis,” Nishikori said. “During the second set I started getting my rhythm back and started playing a little more inside the baseline and everything started working well… [I’m] very happy to win today.”

Including his efforts on the ATP Challenger Tour, Nishikori has now won eight matches in a row, dropping his first set during that period against Albot on Friday evening. But after getting broken three times in the opening set, the World No. 27 faced just one break point in the rest of the match to move on to the final four, where he will play top seed Kevin Anderson, who eliminated #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours, four minutes. 

“I really had to scrap at the end,” Anderson said. “I felt he almost had a little bit of the edge going to 4-4 [in the third set] and fortunately played a great game at 4-4… it’s nice to have served it out.”

The South African is pursuing his first title since 2015 Winston-Salem. Anderson advanced to the final at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune earlier this year  (l. to Simon). But he heads into the semi-finals facing a 1-5 deficit in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Nishikori.

“It seems like he’s hitting the ball pretty well,” Anderson said. “He’s played quite a few matches over the last few weeks so I’m expecting a tough match as always against one of the best players on the [ATP World] Tour.”

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Second seed Sam Querrey is showing the fans in New York just why he is at a career-best ATP Ranking of No. 12, eliminating big-serving 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (5), 7-6(4).

“I couldn’t have served much better,” said Querrey, who lost just six points on serve. “I don’t even know if we went to deuce, and I had good rhythm on my serve, and that’s what freed me up a little bit in the tie-breaks.”

It is Querrey’s first semi-final since winning the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex last August. The 30-year-old owns a 17-17 record in tour-level semi-finals. But it will not be easy, as he faces fourth seed Adrian Mannarino, who eliminated first-time tour-level quarter-finalist Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

The Frenchman, the current highest-ranked player without an ATP World Tour title (World No. 25), owns a 3-0 lead in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Mannarino has won seven of nine sets against the second seed, including a straight-sets victory against Querrey at the Western & Southern Open last year.

It will be the left-hander’s third semi-final since the beginning of October.

“I’m not really thinking about it right now,” Mannarino said of moving to within two matches of his first tour-level trophy. “I’m just happy to be in the semi-finals and we’ll see tomorrow what’s going to happen.”

Did You Know?
Querrey won a higher percentage of second-serve points (11/13, 85 per cent) than Karlovic won first-serve points (42/52, 81 per cent).