Summary Kei Nishikori beat Gael Monfils to advance to the ATP and WTA Miami Open semi-finals on Thursday.
MIAMI (AFP) - Kei Nishikori saved five match points to advance into the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Miami Open on Thursday, outlasting Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Japanese sixth seed Nishikori denied the 16th-seeded Frenchman four times in the 10th game of the final set and again in the 12th before taking the last three tie-breaker points to end a tension-packed thriller after two hours and 29 minutes.
"In my mind I thought, Play one good point at a time, " Nishikori said. "I kept my focus quite well."
Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, will play Friday for a berth in Sunday s final against the winner of a later match between Australian 24th seed Nick Kyrgios and Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic.
Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays Belgian 15th seed David Goffin in the other semi-final.
The women s semi-finals began with two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beating Swiss 19th seed Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3.
The 30-year-old Russian, who captured the Miami crown a decade ago, will play for the title again Saturday against the winner of a later match between Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber of Germany and former world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
Kuznetsova, who ousted top-ranked Serena Williams in the fourth round, has split eight career matches against Azarenka and owns a 4-3 edge on Kerber in their rivalry.
Monfils has not reached a semi-final since last April at Monte Carlo but he made a spectacular run at it against Nishikori, firing 12 aces and racing across the court throughout the match.
"I wasn t expecting him to be that fast," Nishikori said.
Monfils, 29, broke Nishikori, 26, with a backhand winner to level the final set and held serve to 5-4, then had three match points in the 10th game, only to fire errant backhands each time.
Nishikori rescued a fourth match point in the game with a forehand winner to extend the drama and saved a fifth in the 12th game with a forehand volley winner, setting the stage for the tie-breaker.
"There was great intensity out there," Monfils said. "At 3-4 I really raised my level. I started to be aggressive and go for it.
"I had the opportunity to close it out but Kei played strong. He fought well. In the breaker, he was just better than me."
Trailing 4-3 in the tie-breaker, Monfils netted a forehand volley and sent another forehand long before Nishikori ended it with a forehand winner.
Monfils hasn t beaten a top-10 foe since topping second-ranked Roger Federer last year in Monte Carlo.
"I feel I m in the right direction," said Monfils. "I don t feel I m far from those guys."
Nishikori, who beat Monfils in 2014 on Halle grass in their only prior meeting, won his fourth consecutive Memphis title in February for his 11th career ATP crown.
Kuznetsova denied Bacsinszky on 12-of-14 break point chances, including three in the final game.
"I enjoyed the fight and I m happy I m still able to play against the best in the world," Kuznetsova said. "I was praying to finish it in two sets so I would have a little more time to rest."
Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open champion, seeks her 17th WTA title and by reaching her 38th career final ensured she will crack the $20 million career prize money mark this weekend.
Ranked 19th, Kuznetsova would jump to 10th by taking the title. It would be her first time in the top 10 since May of 2010.
She is the lowest-ranked Miami finalist since a 38th-rated Kim Clijsters in 2005.
