Nishikori gets the better of Cilic in US Open rematch
WASHINGTON: Kei Nishikori beating Marin Cilic at the ATP and WTA Washington Open doesn’t offset losing the same matchup in the 2014 US Open final. Regardless, payback was sweet for the Japanese star.
Nishikori rallied to beat Cilic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday in the semi-finals in their first showdown since the Croatian beat him in the US Open final exactly 11 months ago.
“I had to make some changes,” the 25-year-old Asian number one said. “We had a battle last year at the US Open. It’s great to have revenge today and I hope I can keep it going tomorrow.”
After grinding out a win over the 6-foot-6 Cilic, the 5-foot-10 baseliner now aims to chop down 6-foot-10 John Isner.
In an all-American match, Isner survived a tough challenge from the un-seeded Steve Johnson, firing 31 aces and saving three match points to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9).
On the women’s side, American Sloane Stephens reached her first career final by eliminating Australian second seed Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.
She will face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who won the first semi-final after her top-seeded compatriot Ekaterina Makarova withdrew with a right leg injury before the third set with the score 4-6, 6-3.
CZECH PLISKOVA REACHES STANFORD FINAL
STANFORD: Karolina Pliskova has a history with Angelique Kerber. They met each other in a final less than two months ago and will do so again at Stanford.
The fourth-seeded Czech Pliskova stopped upset-maker Varvara Lepchenko in the semi-finals at the Stanford Classic with an impressive 6-2, 7-5 straight sets win on Saturday.
She’s looking for her first career Premier-level tour win — and Kerber, who has three titles this year, is standing in her way again.
The fifth-seeded Kerber, of Germany, advanced to the final with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
The two met in the final at Birmingham with Kerber winning 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015
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