Wawrinka leads Nishikori 3-2 in past meetings but significantly, Nishikori did have a five-set win two years ago in their only contest in NY.
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Halep, the 2014 French Open runner-up who was seeded No. 5, staved off all 12 break points held by Williams in the second set and forced a third.
“I’m glad I got tested”, Williams said.
“It was definitely my mistake that I lost the first set”.
She lost just one point on her serve in the first set Wednesday and never faced a break point.
It was so exciting on the court but I tried to stay calm. I knew before the match that against Juan Martin it’s a tough challenge. Although Murray fought his way back at the start of the fifth set, breaking back to level at 2-2, Nishikori broke again in the following game.
Playing a seeded player for the first time in this US Open 2016, Serena had to bring out all of her big-game experience to come away with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win.
“I saw some opportunity to come in (to the net) today so I tried to be aggressive”.
“It’s a little bit different that the other Grand Slams”, Nishikori said.
The Briton squandered his chances and lost the game. Still, Williams breezed through the rest of that set.
In Thursday’s other semifinal, No. 2 Angelique Kerber plays two-time U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki.
2 seed and 2012 champion at Flushing Meadows, disagreed with chair umpire Marija Cicak’s decision to immediately halt things when play was interrupted by a sound similar to what a gong might make.
The world No 2, who has eight days to fly home and recuperate, said: “Obviously I’ll look forward to the match”.
He also spoke to a tournament supervisor about it, pleading his case and saying, “That’s not fair”.
Murray’s anger intensified when Nishikori held and after complaining to both Cicak and tournament referee Wayne McKewen, he proceeded to lose the next seven games in a row.
Nishikori took the first set 6-4, then went up an early break in the second.
A shade over four hours earlier Nishikori nearly got off to a dream start, taking a 0-40 lead in the opening game before Murray came roaring back to hold serve.
Andy Murray admitted frustration got the better of him as he crashed out of the US Open after a five-set defeat to Kei Nishikori. Soon enough, his career-best run of reaching seven straight tournament finals was done.
He had won 26 of his previous 27 matches, included a second Wimbledon championship in July and an unprecedented second consecutive Olympic singles gold medal last month.
It proved to be brief respite for Murray, though, as Nishikori fired a victor down the left to regain the advantage, but a match of twists and turns had another twist – and turn – to come.
At 5-5, however, it was Nishikori’s turn to make what proved to be the decisive break.
Murray was favourite to claim his fourth Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows, but was beaten 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 by Kei Nishikori of Japan in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
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McEnroe, a commentator for ESPN, accused Monfils of not giving his full effort after falling behind 5-0 in a four-set, semifinal loss to the top-seeded Djokovic on Friday, at one calling him “unprofessional” in “one of the greatest lack-of-effort matches in the semifinal of a major that I’ve ever seen”.
