Sixth seed Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarterfinals at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over the big-serving Ivo Karlovic. The Japanese will face Andy Murray for a place in the semifinals.
Kei Nishikori grabs lone break; goes one set up
Kei Nishikori got off to a superb start. Both players held their opening service games pretty comfortably. It was the fourth game where Nishikori came alive. With the score at 30-15, Karlovic ran towards the net and the Japanese did the seemingly impossible and lobbed the 6 ft 11 Croat to bring up a break point opportunity.
A forehand winner on the next point sealed the break for the world number seven who then held his serve in the very next game to take control of the match. The 26-year-old would be serving for the set four games later at 5-3. A forehand winner brought up triple match points. Nishikori then fired a double fault but a backhand winner sealed the set 6-3.
Japanese goes two sets up via early break
With the momentum fully on Nishikori's side, he took advantage. At 30-30, an attempted slice from the 37-year-old went wide which presented the Japanese with a break point. The world number seven broke after Karlovic missed an overhead shot following a lob from Nishikori. In the following game after having two chances to close out the game including serving a double fault, the Japanese was gifted a third break point chance.
However, Karlovic saved the point and held serve with a trademark ace. From then on in both players were holding serve and being a break up, Nishikori was playing free flowing tennis, troubling the Croat and with five games passed the Japanese had the chance to serve for the set. Following a hold to love, Nishikori went two sets up.
Karlovic forces tiebreak; Nishikori comes out on top
The start of the set was tight and after four holds of serve, the set came alive. Just like the second set, Nishikori's lob saw the racket of Karlovic who couldn't convert and the Japanese had a break point. Karlovic managed to serve his way out of trouble as he held to stay in the match at 2-3. As the set continued, the crowd began to make their noise for the 37-year-old as he tried to force a fourth set. At 4-5 in favor of Karlovic, the crowd began to make noise for the Croat as he reached a set point at 15-40.
Following a slice wide, Karlovic had missed one set point but still had another in the bag. The Japanese then served and volleyed his way out of trouble to deuce. Struggling in the game, Nishikori finally held and leveled at 5-5. Two service games later, a tiebreak was needed. The Japanese ran away to a 6-0 lead in the tiebreaker. Once again the crowd showed their support for the Croat who seemed down and out. However, he thrived on the crowd's support and managed to win four points on the bounce. With the momentum slightly shifting, Nishikori ended Karlovic's attempt of a comeback and advanced to the quarterfinals.