Nishikori, who won 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-5, had been facing an uphill battle until a crucial incident early in the fourth set turned the match around.
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“I was definitely exhausted, especially in the end”, Nishikori said. “I don’t know how many days off I’ll take or how much or when I’ll start practising up there”.
“I was definitely a little bit exhausted, especially in the end”, Nishikori told reporters. “Today on the court, you know, she found her rhythm and took the opportunities that I gave her”, Konjuh said in a post-match press conference.
The 26-year-old, who was beaten in the US Open final in 2014, came through a five-set epic against the number two seed, 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
This would have been a special win for Nishikori seeing as he recently lost to Murray at the Olympics semi-final, before winning the bronze medal match against Rafael Nadal. Serena Williams was tested for the first time in her quarterfinal against Simona Halep but she charged through the challenge.
Kei Nishikori is calm and quiet on court and a paragon of sportsmanship, but the Japanese enjoyed taking revenge against Andy Murray at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. He was missing a lot the first set and also I was playing good tennis, but I think he made some changes and he was starting to play better.
Murray, who had been almost unbeatable for much of the summer, suffered just his second loss in 28 matches with Ivan Lendl back in his camp.
Nishikori, runner-up here in 2014, goes through to his second grand slam semi-final, where he will face either Juan Martin del Potro or Stan Wawrinka.
The sixth-seeded Nishikori rallied to upset Andy Murray in five sets Wednesday, and he picked up where he left off at the start of his semifinal.
The three-time Grand Slam champion had been 2-1 up but lost his cool in the fourth set when the malfunctioning PA system interrupted a break point on the Nishikori serve.
The Swiss broke back in the seventh game and although Del Potro, whose career was nearly derailed by a series of wrist injuries, saved two set points in the tie-breaker, a rare forehand error gave up the set.
“I think definitely under the roof he was able to dictate more of the points”. And he had the flawless start, dictating play to race into a set and a break lead. A huge shock loomed when she stood at 15-40 early in the second set, but Williams won three straight games to build a lead she would not relinquish. “I wasn’t very happy about that”.
“I wasn’t at my best level today for sure, but she was just too good”.
Meanwhile, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) was looking into a match after irregular betting patterns were detected, but the US Tennis Association said it was confident nothing nefarious had taken place.
The No. 5-seeded Halep then saved seven break points in the second game of the second set, and broke Williams in the very next game to lead 2-1.
Australian and French Open victor Wawrinka’s last game was delayed while the crowd saluted the popular del Potro, who missed the past two US Opens because of three wrist operations.
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In a match which featured 17 breaks of serve, Nishikori prevailed for only his second win in nine matches against the world number two. Tied at 5-5 with Murray serving, Nishikori scored another break and then served out the match in the 12th game.
