Earlier, French Open champion Stan Wawrinka overpowered Austin Krajicek 6-3 6-4 to advance to the last four. After a hold in the next game Nishikori sought the trainer’s assistance with an ailing right shoulder, but after a five-minute delay he returned to go right on the attack again and finally broke through on his fourth break point of the set to lead 3-1.
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Second-seeded Nishikori survived 23 aces by the hard-hitting Cilic to book his place in Saturday’s semifinals where he will face either Nick Kyrgios or Benoit Paire. “It was windy and I struggled with my serve in the third set”.
Cilic beat Nishikori in the ultimate of the 2014 US Open however the Japanese participant gained their last assembly in the semi-finals of the Citi Open…
The second set looked to be heading to a tiebreaker, but Cilic wobbled when serving in the 12th game, tossing in back-to-back errors to allow Nishikori the break.
“It was better today”, said Wawrinka, who had to go to three sets to see off Tatsuma Ito in the previous round.
“I’m quite happy to win in an hour on a nice sunny day”.
World number four Wawrinka’s path to the final was made easier when third seed Gilles Simon of France crashed out 6-3, 6-4 to Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller. “I was a bit more relaxed and more confident in my game”.
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“Muller is the kind of player who is never easy”, Wawrinka said of his semifinal opponent, who he has beaten twice already this year. “I know what I have to do and hopefully I can play a good match tomorrow”.
