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NEW YORK – Kei Nishikori tried to overtake Marin Cilic on Wednesday at the US Open, giving for the first time to Japan a semifinalist male and female at the same Grand Slam, according to the ATP Tour.
Nishikori won the second leg of the 2014 final with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 win in a 4-hour, 8-minute match.
In the match before Nishikori's, Naomi Osaka entered her first Grand Slam semifinal, leading Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1.
Only once in the professional era that began in 1968, Japan had a male and female player in the quarterfinals of the same tournament. It was at Wimbledon in 1995, and Shuzo Matsuoka and Kimiko Date both lost in this round.
Cilic, seventh seeded, won the 2014 final in two sets for his only major career title. Nishikori said this week that he was nervous once this match started, but this one had nothing to do with that day.
Instead, he resembled their second-round match in 2010 at Flushing Meadows, when Nishikori rallied to win in five innings in 4:59, the fifth men's singles match in the history of the United States. US Open.
Every man skipped opportunities to take control and maybe a much quicker end to a match that had a dazzling momentum.
Cilic seemed to be at its peak after taking the first set and opening a 4-2 lead in the second. The Croatian then took the lead in the tiebreak of the third set until the double fault was committed on consecutive services.
After Cilic equalized the match by taking fourth place after a 10-minute break for heat, Nishikori was about to run away with the fifth, holding a point-off for a 5-point lead. -1. Instead, Cilic held and then broke Nishikori en route to the match at 4-all, but then Nishikori took the last two games.
The No. 21 seed continued its strong season after recovering from a wrist injury that forced him to miss the US Open last year and to play sixth. Novak Djokovic or John Millman not ranked Friday.
"I do not want to go to five sets every time," Nishikori said.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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