Nishikori reaches Washington semifinals for 1st time by withstanding 15 aces

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, watches the ball after an unsuccessful return-attempt to Marin Cilic, of Croatia, during their quarterfinal match at the Citi Open tennis tournament, Friday, August 7, 2015, in Washington.

Croatian third seed Cilic could meet Nishikori in the semi-finals after he beat American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 to reach the quarters.

Nishikori, who is seeking his third title of the year after Memphis and Barcelona and the 10th of his career, silenced speculation in Japan he might be becoming a father, saying, “I hope one day, but not yet.” 1 has reached his seventh ATP semi-final of the year. Nishikori denied Groth on two break points in the eighth game and held at love in the final game to end matters after 86 minutes.

Groth, whose only ATP semi-final was last year at Newport, fired 15 aces but fell to 0-4 against top-10 foes in dropping his first meeting with Nishikori.

“I’m very confident and I’m feeling really good”, Nishikori said. “I think I have more patience and (am) a more solid baseline player and I try to be a little more aggressive than before”.

Nishikori, who has a 5-3 edge on Cilic in their all-time rivalry, said he recalls not being at his best for the biggest moment of his career thus far and welcomes another chance at the man who frustrated his dream.

In much similar fashion to the first, Nishikori broke Mayer at 4 games apiece and served out the match in comfortable fashion. He had less unforced errors and won 100 percent of his first service points.

“I’m sure that I am a better player than last year”, added Nishikori, the only Japanese man to participate in a major final.

“Win or lose”, Cilic said, “it’s going to give me a lot of feedback for my game”. “I’ve got to hold serve and I’ve got to build pressure around that and I’ve got to make him feel uncomfortable”.

French 4th plant Richard Gasquet, being released a Wimbledon semi-final flee, was at offended by 37th-ranked American Jack Sock 6 to 7…

The match was interrupted thrice by rain but only in the first set.

With Cilic up 2-1 in the second tiebreaker, he smacked a running, down-the-line forehand victor and raised his left fist.

In women’s first-round matches, Russian top seed Ekaterina Makarova downed Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 7-5, 7-5 and Aussie second seed Samantha Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, defeated France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-2 for her 500th career match victory.

STANFORD, Calif. | Agnieszka Radwanska started slow and finished fast, beating qualifier Misaki Doi 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 on Thursday in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic.