Second seed Kei Nishikori pushed himself to the limits to overcome challenging Croatian Marin Cilic in a physical 6-4 5-7 6-2 victory that took 2 hours and 37 minutes today, locking him into a consecutive Brisbane International semifinal.
In a game of contrasting styles it was surprisingly Nishikori’s serve that held strong, saving 14 break-point opportunities from the 198 cm-tall Croatian and pulling out the shots he needed in the critical moments of the match.
“It was hot. Yeah, it was tough condition, especially playing one‑hour set and almost not three hours, but two and forty minutes. It was not easy, but I’m happy to finish strong in third set,” Nishikori said
“It’s not easy especially you play Cilic or big guys. They hit big serves and tough to return, but I was playing well today.”
Despite a current ranking of No.37, Cilic was never going to be an easy task for Nishikori – the Croatian was pushing toward the top 10 before serving a six-month anti-doping suspension in 2013, and showed that form to send fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov packing in the second round.
Nishikori took full advantage of his game plan in the opening game of the match, with the big-serving Croatian warming up his right arm with two double faults to gift the Japanese terrier what proved to be the decisive break.
The world No.17 rose to the challenge, keeping his first-serve percentage high and hitting for the lines to stop any chance of a Cilic resurgence once his serve started threatening.
“That was an important game. The tactics was to hit good returns and make, you know, whatever I can for his serve, especially first serve.”
They were reaching for ice packs early in the second set, but the heat didn’t seem to slow either man down on court during a succession of mammoth games that saw the pair trading break-point opportunities.
Cilic looked a certainty to send it to a third set, leading 5-4 with 0-40 on Nishikori’s serve, but marked by a superb passing shot the second seed put his foot down to even the score.
But suffering through five deuces on Cilic’s next service game without clinching the critical break, something had to give for Nishikori, losing his service game to love with a double fault on set point to lock in a deciding set.
The lapse didn’t last long, with Nishikori pulling off superb shots to break Cilic early in the set before saving three break points with as many winners to consolidate a 3-1 advantage.
His nose in front, the winners started flowing off the Nishikori racquet, breaking the Cilic serve and serving out the match 6-2 with ominous shot-making.
Nishikori will face Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals on Saturday; Hewitt won the pair’s only encounter at Wimbledon in 2011, but playing an exhibition in Japan two weeks ago, the Hewitt game is fresh in Nishikori’s mind.
“He’s always tough to play. He doesn’t miss much. Obviously he gives a lot of good things for the tennis tour.”
“But I really have to be aggressive and keep moving the balls.”
Nishikori was forced to withdraw due to injury in last year’s semifinal against eventual winner, Andy Murray, but the Japanese fan favourite feels he is in the form that brings out his best results on the Australian courts.
“It is big challenge for me to play final first week of the tour. I’ve been playing well and I had a good preparation, so I feel like I can,” he said.
> Purchase Brisbane International 2014 tickets