The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Nishikori and Osaka give Japan two U.S. Open semifinalists
YORK — Kei Nishikori rallied to outlast Marin Cilic on Wednesday at the U.S. Open, giving Japan a men’s and women’s semifinalist at the same Grand Slam for the first time, according to the ATP Tour.
Nishikori won the rematch of the 2014 final with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 victory in a match that lasted 4 hours, 8 minutes.
In the match before Nishikori’s, Naomi Osaka moved into her first Grand Slam semifinal by routing Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1.
Only once in the professional era that began in 1968 had Japan had a men’s and women’s player in the quarterfinals at the same tournament. That was at Wimbledon in 1995, and both Shuzo Matsuoka and Kimiko Date lost in that round.
The seventh-seeded Cilic won the 2014 final in straight sets for his only career major title. Nishikori said this week that he was nervous once that match began, but
this one was nothing like that day.
Instead, it resembled their 2010 second-round match in Flushing Meadows, when Nishikori rallied to win in five sets in 4:59, the fifth-longest men’s singles match by time in U.S. Open history.
Each man blew chances to gain control and perhaps have a much quicker ending to a match that had wild swings of momentum.
Cilic appeared to be coasting after taking the first set and opening a 4-2 lead in the second. The Croatian then had the lead in the third-set tiebreaker until double-faulting on consecutive serves.
After Cilic evened the match by taking the fourth following a 10-minute break for heat, Nishikori was on the verge with running away with the fifth, holding a break point for a 5-1 lead. Instead, Cilic held and then broke Nishikori on his way to evening the set at 4-all, but then Nishikori took the final two games.
The No. 21 seed continued his strong season after returning from a wrist injury that forced him to miss the U.S. Open last year and will play either No. 6 seed Novak Djokovic or unseeded John Millman on Friday.
“I wish I don’t go to five sets every time,” Nishikori said.
Osaka had it much easier, continuing what’s been a largely dominant run through the draw by winning in just 57 minutes, the third time in her five matches she didn’t even have to play an hour.
The No. 20 seed moved from Japan to New York at age 3, and her deepest major run is coming at the same tournament she first visited as a child.
“Well, it definitely means a lot for me, and I always thought if I were to win a Grand Slam, the first one I’d want to win is the US Open, because I have grown up here and, like, then my grandparents can come and watch,” she said. “I think it would be really cool.”
She raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set and then 4-0 in the second against the shaky Tsurenko, who finished with more unforced errors than points in her first major quarterfinal.
Osaka will face either 14th-seeded Madison Keys in the first major semifinal appearance for a Japanese woman since Date reached the final four at Wimbledon in 1996.
Keys reached the semifinals at a second consecutive U.S. Open, beating No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-3.
Keys, a 23-year-old American , overwhelmed Suarez Navarro with her powerful serve and groundstrokes, building a 22-10 edge in winners.
Keys faced only two break points, one while serving for the victory in the final game, and saved both.
She has made it to the final four at three of the past five Grand Slam tournaments but is still seeking her first major championship.
Keys was the runner-up to Sloane Stephens at the U.S. Open in 2017, then lost to Stephens in the French Open semifinals this year.
The 20-year-old Osaka said she was nervous, claiming to be “freaking out inside” — though it certainly never showed.
“Just like my entire body was shaking, so I’m really glad I was able to play well today,” she said.
She won 59 points to just 28 for the unseeded Ukrainian, who knocked off No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.