Japan’s Kei Nishikori has raced into the semifinals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna following a clinical 6-3, 6-1, win over top seed Dominic Thiem.
Nishikori, who lost to Thiem at the French Open earlier this year, dominated proceedings from the onset. Racing to a 5-0 lead after just 15 minutes of play. Nishikori continued to exert his dominance throughout the match as he broke Thiem’s serve fives times, of which three of those occurred during the second set.
“It certainly was one of my best games in the last months – except for one or two games in the first set. I had more unforced errors there than usual and Thiem nearly came back.” Nishikori told reporters following the win.
During the clash Nishikori hit 14 winners to 11 unforced errors to record his 39th win on the tour this season. A stark contrast to that of Thiem, who only managed to win 26% of his second service points. The Austrian was bidding to become only the third man from his country to win the Vienna title and the first since Jurgen Melzer back in 2010.
“He simply was the better player today,” admitted Thiem. “Some things, which are important for my game, didn’t work out as they do usually.”
“If I got that second break in the first set the match would have been much closer.”
As well as securing a place in the semi-finals of the tournament, the 28-year-old has boosted his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals in November. A season-ending tournament that will only feature the eight best players in the world. After today’s win, Nishikori is in 9th place with 3090 points. Ahead of John Isner (3065), but behind Dominic Thiem (3535).
On Saturday Nishikori will take on Mikhail Kukushkin in the semi-finals of the tournament. The Kazakh qualified outlasted Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4), in a marathon encounter that lasted more than three hours.
“I still can’t believe that I made it,” Kukushkin told atpworldtour.com. “That was a crazy match, so emotional. It’s my first time in Vienna. I’m so happy.”
Second seed Kevin Anderson also secured his place in the semifinals after Borna Coric retired injured. The South African was leading their match 7-6(2), 2-1, before Coric retired. He will play Gael Monfils or Fernando Verdasco next.
