WASHINGTON (AP) — Exactly 11 months after meeting in the U.S. Open final, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori will face each other again on a hard court.
This time, it’ll be in the semifinals of the Citi Open, a tuneup event for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Cilic moved into the final four in Washington for the first time since 2010 by beating 18-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-5, 7-6 (3) on Friday.
Earlier, the second-seeded Nishikori withstood 15 aces and managed to break Sam Groth’s big serve twice for a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
On Sept. 8, 2014, Cilic beat Nishikori in straight sets at Flushing Meadows, the only time either man participated in a Grand Slam title match. They have not played each other since.
“For me, it’s great motivation to play Marin,” Nishikori said.
“I’m sure that I am a better player than last year,” added Nishikori, the only Japanese man to participate in a major final. “I think I have more patience and (am) a more solid baseline player and I try to be a little more aggressive than before.”
With both the third-seeded Cilic and Nishikori in Washington, this is the first time the Citi Open field included both men’s finalists from the previous year’s U.S. Open.
The men’s quarterfinals on the other half of the draw were scheduled for Friday night: No. 8 John Isner of the United States vs. Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, and No. 15 Jack Sock vs. Steve Johnson in an all-American matchup.
Against Groth, Nishikori saved all four break points he faced en route to reaching a tournament’s semifinals for the sixth time this season — and first in five appearances at the hard-court event in Washington.
He also managed to successfully deal with Groth’s serves just often enough.
“Some of them I couldn’t really see,” Nishikori said. “When it was 145 or 147 (mph), even if I guessed, it was too fast, so it wasn’t easy to return.”
Nishikori improved to 41-9 in 2015. Only Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have won more ATP matches this year, with 48 apiece.
In the women’s quarterfinals, 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur had a short workday, advancing when Monica Niculescu stopped playing because of a left abdominal strain while trailing 4-0.
“It seemed like straightaway, something wasn’t right with her,” said Stosur, adding that while she never wants to take advantage of an opponent’s injury, she was “not going to complain” about needing to spend less than a half-hour on court.
Stosur will face Sloane Stephens for a berth in the women’s final. Stephens picked up a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 19-year-old wild-card entry Louisa Chirico.
The other women’s semifinal will be No. 1-seeded Ekaterina Makarova against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Marakova beat No. 6 Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, while Pavlyuchenkova edged Christina McHale 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
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