BEIJING: Novak Djokovic’s China Open charge showed no sign of slowing as he destroyed towering American number one John Isner 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals in a lightning 52 minutes here on Friday.

The top-ranked Serb brushed off Isner to clock up his 27th straight victory at a tournament where he has never been beaten and has now won 23 sets in a row.

The lop-sided defeat was almost embarrassing for the 13th-ranked Isner, clocking in a shade quicker than Djokovic’s similar straight-sets humiliation of China’s 219th-ranked Zhang Ze in the previous round.

Djokovic finished off Isner with a service winner on his first match point to move past Jimmy Connors and into sole second place for best unbeaten starts at a tournament, behind Nadal’s 31 at the French Open.

Despite the American burying 85 per cent of his trademark big first serves in the first set, Djokovic was sending them back more often than not and moving his opponent around the court.

Next up for the seemingly unstoppable Serb, who won three out of four Grand Slam finals this year to reach 10 major titles, is Spain’s David Ferrer, who beat Taiwanese wildcard Lu Yen-hsun 6-3, 6-1.

Earlier, life was a little trickier for Rafael Nadal as he was forced to come from a set down against America’s Jack Sock before setting up a chance for revenge in the semi-finals against Fabio Fognini.

The out-of-sorts Spanish great, scrapping to recover his form after a tough year, was outgunned by Sock’s howitzer forehand but he dug deep to see off the world number 30, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Nadal, into his first hardcourt semi-final for more than a year, will now face Italy’s Fognini, who has beaten him three times this season including in last month’s US Open third round.

Fognini beat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.

In the women’s draw, Ana Ivanovic beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 7-5 to set up a semi-final with Timea Bacsinszky, who recovered from a first-set ‘bagel’ to beat Sara Errani 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 to go into a semi-final clash with the in-form Garbine Muguruza, who halted the run of American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 7-5.

Results (x denotes seeding):

Quarter-finals:

Men’s: Rafael Nadal (ESP x3) bt Jack Sock (USA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2; David Ferrer (ESP x4) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6-3, 6-1; Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt John Isner (US x6) 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s: Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x4) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x10) 6-1, 6-4; Timea Bacsinszky (SUI x12) bt Sara Errani (ITA) 0-6, 6-3, 7-5; Ana Ivanovic (SRB x6) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-3, 7-5; Garbine Muguruza (ESP x5) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 6-1, 7-5.

NISHIKORI MAULS CILIC

TOKYO: Defending champion and second seed Kei Nishikori survived a war of attrition against Croatia’s Marin Cilic to reach the Japan Open semi-finals here on Friday, winning a cliffhanger 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Top seed Stan Wawrinka overpowered American qualifier Austin Krajicek 6-3, 6-4 to join him in the last four, though the Swiss required less than an hour to take care of business on a sunny afternoon in Tokyo.

Serving with such ferocity Cilic knocked the racquet out of Nishikori’s hand, the sixth seed broke first with a thumping forehand drive to lead 4-2 before wrapping up the opening set with an ace down the centre.

When cracks began to appear in Cilic’s armour, Nishikori levelled with an acrobatic leaping backhand that the lanky Croat could only dump into the net.

Cilic’s game unravelled under the onslaught in the decider as Nishikori caught fire, breaking for 3-1 and closing out the quarter-final with an ace after two hours, 11 minutes to ensure ‘Nishikori Fever’ stretches into the weekend.

Nishikori, bidding to win a fourth title of the year, next faces Benoit Paire after the Frenchman beat volatile Australian Nick Kyrgios 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

World number four Wawrinka’s path to the final was made easier when third seed Gilles Simon of France crashed out 6-3, 6-4 to Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.

Results:

Quarter-finals: Stan Wawrinka (SUI x1) bt Austin Krajicek (US) 6-3, 6-4; Kei Nishikori (JPN x2) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x6) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Gilles Muller (LUX) bt Gilles Simon (FRA x3) 6-3, 6-4; Benoit Paire (FRA) bt Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play