Defending champ Nishikori beats Cilic to reach Japan Open semis

Nishikori secured two breaks of serve in the opening set but it was different story in the second as he failed to convert five break points.

Nishikori looked to be heading through in style after a dominant first set, but Paire showed remarkable resilience and fought back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

A single break in either set was enough for Wawrinka to beat Austin Krajicek 6-3 6-4, his clinical ground strokes and powerful serve proving too much for the world number 124.

Nishikori’s bid for a third Japan Open crown in four years came to a shuddering halt as Paire roared back from dropping a whirlwind first set in just 20 minutes.

Nishikori had already gained a measure of revenge for last year’s U.S. Open final defeat by beating Cilic in the semifinals of the Citi Open in August, but the world No. 6 was more than happy to repeat the achievement in front of an enthusiastic Tokyo crowd.

“I was playing maybe the best tennis I had played all week”, said Cilic.

Wawrinka made no mistakes as he powered past Krajicek in just 58 minutes, and the left-hander had no answer to the rapier-like ground strokes of the French Open champion. The serve-volleying Muller could only win 45 percent of points where he had to make a second serve, as compared to his opponent’s 82 percent success rate.

Nevertheless, expect him to win his fifth ATP title of the year on Sunday.

Having levelled thanks to a crisp backhand, the second seed pushed on in the decider and closed out the quarter-final with an ace of his own, winning 3-6 7-5 6-3. “I know what I have to do and hopefully I can play a good match tomorrow”.