The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Nishikori recovers from setback
Kei Nishikori recovered from losing the opening set 6-0 to Fernando Verdasco to join the other big guns in the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Seven of the top eight seeds have made it through to the last eight, with Pablo Carreno Busta the only one to gatecrash the party with his defeat of Milos Raonic.
Nishikori fought back to win 0-6 6-4 6-4 6-0.
Nishikori said: “I couldn’t do anything first set, but I tried to play a little more heavy and a little more aggressive sometimes, and it started working a little bit better.
“But still it was a really, really tough battle. There were so many long rallies, second and third sets,” he said.
“But I gained some confidence and the fourth I think it was perfect tennis I played.”
The eighth seed will now try to repeat his US Open success against Andy Murray when he faces the world number one tomorrow.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka is yet to drop a set and ended France’s hopes for another year with a 7-5 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 win over Gael Monfils.
It is the 10th time in the last 12 Grand Slams that the Swiss, the winner here in 2015, has reached the last eight.
He said: “It was a really close two sets. I think it was a tough match, tough conditions, quite windy, a lot of tension because we know each other so well.”
Wawrinka called the trainer for treatment to his back at the start of the third set, but is hopeful it will not be an ongoing problem.
“My back has always been a bit sensitive,” he said. “I know I have to be careful about it, but it doesn’t prevent me from playing very well.”
In the last eight Wawrinka will face seventh seed Marin Cilic, who has breezed through the draw so far.
He did not even have to complete his match yesterday, with opponent Kevin Anderson pulling out with a thigh injury when trailing 6-3 3-0.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will look to set up a semi-final clash today, with Nadal taking on Carreno Busta and Djokovic meeting Dominic Thiem.