Kei Nishikori battles past Marin Cilic to reach third US Open semi-final

Kei Nishikori turned the tables on Marin Cilic to reach the US Open semi-finals for the third time after another dramatic encounter at Flushing Meadows.

The pair both reached their first grand slam final here in 2014, with Cilic going on to claim a straight-sets victory.

The Croatian has built on that success, reaching two more finals in the last two seasons, but Nishikori’s only similar run came in New York two years ago when he defeated Andy Murray to reach the semi-finals before losing to Stan Wawrinka.

This proved to be Nishikori’s day, though, as he ground out a 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 6-4 victory to mark a landmark moment for Japan after Naomi Osaka’s win over Lesia Tsurenko earlier.

It is the first time in the Open era that Japan is represented in the semi-finals of both the main draws at the same grand slam.

The pair, both shy characters, have recently become friends, and Nishikori said: “I hope people were watching us today.  Hopefully many people were cheering in support. And even here I saw a lot of Japanese coming up for the tournament.

“It’s good to have home support outside of Japan. It’s great news we’re both in the semis. Hopefully we do well this week.

“She has won a Masters. I think she can win the title now, even though it’s a grand slam. I feel it’s a big chance for her.

“I’m also happy for myself, too, being injured last year, I couldn’t play this tournament. I’m happy to come back, make semis. I always play good here. So I hope I can keep going.”

Cilic looked to be in control of the match at a set and a break up but back came Nishikori to win the second set, and then the third on a tie-break after the Croatian wobbled on serve.

Cilic responded by taking the fourth but dropped serve early in the decider and his mood darkened, the 29-year-old arguing with the umpire and then slashing a ball wildly into the stands.

Nishikori has one of the best records in history in deciding sets. This was the 200th match in which he has been taken the distance and the 153rd time he has come out on top, including 18 out of 24 over five sets.

That made it all the more surprising that the 28-year-old allowed his advantage to slip, missing a break point that would have given him a 5-1 lead and then being pegged back to 4-4.

But Cilic was unable to hold his nerve serving to stay in the match and it was Nishikori who held his arms aloft after four hours and seven minutes.

Cilic said: “I came out in the match great, 6-2 4-2 serving, and everything was going great. Just a little bit of a shift of the momentum there. Kei started to hit a little bit better. He broke me. He won six games in a row, converted three of three break points. Just put me back a bit on my back foot.

“From that point on, I felt the match was quite even. I came back. I had some chances. With a great quality player like Kei, he also had his chances, and he converted. So it came down to a couple points.”