Nishikori crushes Matosevic to reach last four

KeiNishikori

Japanese top seed Nishikori, playing in his first tournament since reaching the final of the US Open earlier this month, dismantled his Australian counterpart to ease to a 6-3 6-0 success in an hour and three minutes.

Nishikori was in complete control from start to finish, losing just 10 points on serve in the contest to set up a last-four meeting with Jarkko Nieminen at the ATP 250 event.
 
Finn Nieminen capitalised on a poor performance from seventh seed Pablo Andujar, winning 14 points on the Spaniard's second serve to keep his hopes of a third career singles title alive.

Second seed Ernests Gulbis is also through to the penultimate round after he overcame German Benjamin Becker 6-3 7-5.

The Latvian was delighted with the improvements in his game having been pushed to three sets by Philipp Petzschner in the second round.

"Today was much better," Gulbis said. "When I broke him in the second set, I played three unbelievable points. I'm finding my game."

His opponent in the semi-finals will be France's Julien Benneteau, who emerged triumphant 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 in an entertaining three-set encounter with Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, a victory that puts him on the cusp of reaching the tournament showpiece for a third successive year. 

"I hope I can make the final again. We'll see what happens tomorrow [Saturday]," Benneteau said. "It will be difficult. But I will try to be back in the final again and play better." 

Author(s)