Nishikori, the two-time defending champion, beat Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-2 earlier on the outdoor clay court.
Advertisement
But Paire was second-best throughout Saturday’s contest, with 2014 and 2015 champion Nishikori now awaiting the victor between Rafael Nadal and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Nishikori totally dominated Paire and ended a two-match loss streak from last autumn against the French sixth seed.
The world No.71 will face compatriot Angelique Kerber, who edged a classic showdown against Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in order to book her place in today’s final.
Kerber, second seeded for the tournament, will face the victor of the match between Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza and Czech Petra Kvitova.
“I started off very well, and it felt really good”.
Nadal now hopes to be ending a poor run from the last 18 months as he closes in on another final a week after winning his ninth title at Monte Carlo.
Last year, Nadal was upset here by Fognini in straight sets in the round of 16.
“I love Barcelona, I’m very comfortable playing this tournament”.
Nadal endured a surprising slump in the second set and found himself a break down at 4-2, before recovering in game 10 when Fognini failed to serve out for the set. But in all four matches on the red stuff, he had never won a set, nor even reached a tie-break.
“Tomorrow will be a tough match against Fognini, he beat me three times previous year and it was an up and down against him”.
Kei Nishikori defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5 6-0 to move into the semi-finals in his defence of the Barcelona Open. “I had a great forehand today and the conditions were much better than yesterday”.
“I messed up my backhands but it was also important I only conceded one break point in the whole game, that’s the most positive thing”.
Advertisement
But Paire offered little resistance in the opening set and was broken twice by the Japanese, who dropped just three points on his own serve.
