Nishikori tops Cilic in Citi Open semis

Having left his mother at the age of 14 to move to the U.S., Nishikori said that he felt his mother’s support in “every way possible”.

Nishikori saved two set points when Duckworth hit a backhand long and Nishikori followed with a backhand volley victor.

Kei Nishikori, of Japan, reaches for a return against Sam Groth, of Australia, during a quarterfinal match at the Citi Open tennis tournament, Friday, August 7, 2015, in Washington.

A pair of American men reached the elite eight in Washington as Steve Johnson and Jack Sock booked a showdown with each other on Friday.

“It wasn’t easy”, Nishikori said. “I’m 30% better at this moment than past year”.

Nishikori is 3-0 all-time against Johnson but lost to Isner this year in a Miami quarter-final in their only meeting.

That certainly made sense for Cilic.

Earlier in the day, Sam Querrey gave U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic all he could handle in the first set – until the tiebreaker. “I raised my game in the second set”. I thought generally overall I was feeling the ball better.

That is until the second seed found his rhythm in the second set.

With the win, Isner advances to the quarter-finals against 86th-ranked Ricardas Berankis, who knocked off top-seeded Andy Murray on Wednesday. After dropping the set, instincts kicked in.

“I’m a better player than past year”. “I tried to hit a little more aggressive”.

Nishikori denied Groth on two break points in the eighth game, holding for a 5-3 lead, and held at love in the final game to conclude matters after 86 minutes.

Yet it is the Japanese player who actually holds a superior 5-3 head-to-head record against Cilic – he is also ranked fifth in the world, three places higher than Saturday’s opponent.

In the tie-breaker, Cilic jumped ahead 6-1, double faulted, then blasted a service victor to win the set after 53 minutes, taking all 18 of his first serve points in the set.

“I showed some good tennis, too. That’s why I could only break him twice”, Nishikori said.

The Florida-born player, who broke Chirico in the very first game of the match, has already reached six WTA semi-finals, most recently featuring in the last four at Eastbourne.

The 40th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova, the runner-up at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open in 2012, will face Christina McHale of the United States for a semifinal berth. “But in the big picture of tennis I still have to go on the court and play well”. Nishikori served out the set, closing with an ace up the middle.

While Nishikori admitted later he couldn’t help but be aware of the hype surrounding the rematch since New York, he was more focused on playing well in the semifinal. The victor will meet American Sloane Stephens or 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in the final.

Cilic, 26, seeks his 14th career title and first of the year. Isner fell to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2013 finals.