Japanese sixth seed Nishikori clinched a dramatic 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 comeback triumph in a shade under four hours against the Wimbledon and Olympic Games victor and 2012 US Open champion. When they resumed play at 3-all, Murray seemed slow to restart.
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Wawrinka will now play in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows for the third time in for years.
After a disappointing two years, since reaching his sole Slam final at the 2014 US Open, Nishikori has re-announced himself as that most elusive and hard-to-classify figure; not someone of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic-Murray era nor a member of the future generation of the sport, but a transition performer who may well indeed have the goods to win a Slam title.
He next will face the victor of Wednesday night’s last quarterfinal between 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro and No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka.
Sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori pulled off the improbable, ousting No. 2 seed and 2012 US Open champion Andy Murray in five sets on Wednesday.
Later, del Potro broke down in tears as his run approached an end and he was given an ovation. “I tried to hit a few more drop-shots than usual today and it worked really well”. “I just didn’t hold serve enough”.
Murray led two sets to one and had a break point in the third game of the fourth set, which would have given him a 2-1 lead.
“Unfortunately I’m in the part of the draw with Serena, so it would be very tough to get through this one”.
Definitely I would say to 4-1. “And I told you”.
The U.S. Tennis Assn. said in a statement, regarding the noise, one of the three digital audio sound processors in Arthur Ashe Stadium had malfunctioned. But he wouldn’t take another game in a thrill-a-minute contest that lasted almost 4 hours.
Had the incident, which happened as Nishikori served at 1-1, 30-40, affected Murray’s focus at all?
“Gael has been playing very well”, Murray said. He won 26 out of 27 matches and reached seven finals in succession. I fought as hard as I could with what I had, ‘ Murray said.
After surviving a match point en route to a fourth-round victory over Williams’ sister Venus, Pliskova beat 18-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-2.
With the outcome never a certainty, Nishikori said: “It was tough to stay calm at the start”.
And Nishikori also admitted the rain delay gave him a valuable chance to regroup as he set up a last four clash with either Juan Martin del Potro or Stan Wawrinka.
Also on Wednesday, Serena Williams’ serve was broken for the first time in the tournament but managed to get by No. 5 seed Simona Halep 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
In Thursday’s other semifinal, No. 2 Angelique Kerber plays two-time U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki.
The players traded blows at the start of the second set, with Nishikori showing increased attacking intent, before a brief rain break at 3-3.
Maybe that made a difference.
Nishikori clinched a dramatic 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 comeback triumph in a shade under four hours against Murray.
In a match which featured 17 breaks of serve, Nishikori prevailed for only his second win in nine matches against world No. 2 Murray.
The Briton was soon 5-4 up but Nishikori, showing nerves of steel, held and took victory when Murray blinked first in the 12th game, burying a backhand in the net.
Nishikori appeared to have the crowd on his side against a visibly frustrated Murray. His coach, eight-time major champion Ivan Lendl, did not exactly mirror that celebratory mood, sitting with chin on hand up in the guest box.
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It was a mouthwatering prospect to see Nishikori and Murray move into a deciding set. At 1-all in the fourth, though, everything changed.
