Tennis: Nishikori outlasts ex-champion Cilic to reach US Open semi-finals

Nishikori celebrates match point during his men's singles quarter-final match against Marin Cilic. PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK (AFP) - Kei Nishikori reached the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday (Sept 5), holding on for a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Marin Cilic - the man who beat him in the 2014 final.

Japan's Nishikori, who missed last year's US Open after a season-ending wrist injury, joined compatriot Naomi Osaka in reaching the semis - the first time that a Japanese man and woman have reached the last four in the same Slam.

He will take on either 13-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic or 55th-ranked Australian John Millman for a place in the final.

Nishikori stunned then-world number one Djokovic in the semi-finals in 2014, but he hasn't returned to a Grand Slam final since.

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