Japan’s Kei Nishikori fights off three match points to beat 225th-ranked American Tommy Paul at Citi Open
World number nine claims 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 win to seal a place in the semi-finals against German fifth seed Alexander Zverev
Second seed Kei Nishikori shrugged off fatigue and saved three match points before beating unheralded American Tommy Paul 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in their Citi Open quarter-final on Friday.
The world number nine seemed destined for an early exit in the fierce Washington heat when 20-year-old Paul brought up match point at 5-3 in the second set with a backhand winner down the line.
Nishikori survived with an audacious drop shot from the base line that Paul could not run down, however, before staving off two more match points in the tiebreak and taking the second set.
That appeared to break the spirit of the 225th-ranked Paul and Nishikori, who had post-midnight finishes to his previous two matches at the tournament, took control in the final set to advance to Saturday’s semi-finals.
Next up for the 27-year-old Japanese is another 20-year-old in German fifth seed Alexander Zverev, who had too much in his arsenal for Russian Daniil Medvedev and won their quarter-final 6-2, 6-4 in less than an hour.
“I felt good from the start to the end. It was a great match for me,” world number eight Zverev told Tennis Channel.
