Nishikori beats Murray in 5 sets to reach US Open semi-finals

TIL Desk Sports/ Japan’s Kei Nishikori overcame second seed Andy Murray for a gruelling 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 see-saw victory on Wednesday to reach the US Open semi-finals. Nishikori, who became the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam final when he finished runner-up here in 2014, broke the Scotsman in the 11th game of the fifth set with a brilliant reflex volley and served out to complete the triumph.

The upset ended a stellar run by Murray that had taken him to seven successive finals, including victories at Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics, Queen’s Club and Rome. “It was too exciting on the court, but I tried to stay calm,” Nishikori said in an on-court interview. “It was really tough to stay calm. There were many ups and downs.

“In the end it was great tennis, so very happy.” The four-hour match was a roller-coaster ride of emotions and momentum swings from the start. Murray hit a low point in the fourth set when Nishikori was serving at 1-1. The world number two held double break-point at 15-40 when chair umpire Mariana Alves called a let and a replay during a point Murray was controlling because of a loud, intrusive sound from the public address system.