Nishikori stuns Dimitrov to reach Brisbane semis

BRISBANE, Australia: Kei Nishikori showed he was back to his best form as he downed Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the Brisbane International on Thursday.

Nishikori proved too consistent for the Bulgarian in a high-quality match, securing crucial breaks at 5-5 in both sets.

Afterwards, the 29-year-old said his goal was to get back into the top five after seeing his ranking plummet to 39 in April last year due to persistent injuries.

The match was a replay of the 2017 final, won by Dimitrov in three sets.

But Nishikori turned the tables this year by returning the Bulgarian’s serve superbly throughout, putting Dimitrov under pressure at key moments and showing fight to come back from 1-4 down in the second set.

He will now play Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a place in Sunday’s final and will go into the match as a firm favourite following Chardy’s three-set struggle over qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama.

Uchiyama, 26, had only won one match on the main ATP Tour before this week and pulled off a massive upset when he beat third seed Kyle Edmund in the second round.

Chardy was not as sharp as he was during his win over Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday and was forced to battle for over two hours before beating Uchiyama 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took advantage of Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal with a straight sets win over Japanese lucky loser Taro Daniel.

The Frenchman underwent knee surgery in April 2018 and missed seven months of tennis, slipping to a world ranking of 239 at the year’s end.

He was due to face Nadal in the second round but when the Spaniard withdrew with a thigh strain, Daniel came in as a replacement.

Tsonga saw off the Japanese challenge to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 and record his first back-to-back victories since last February.

He will play rising Australian star Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Japanese star Naomi Osaka said her US Open victory in September had given her the self-belief to be able to come from behind and win tight matches.

Osaka was speaking after recovering from losing the first set of her Brisbane International quarter-final to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova on Thursday. The world number five overhauled Sevastova to win 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 and reach the semi-finals of the season-opening tournament.

Osaka’s stunning victory over Serena Williams at New York’s Flushing Meadows in September sent her profile into the stratosphere, although her breakthrough win was partially overshadowed by Williams’ furious tirade against the umpire.

Osaka dropped her opening service game in Brisbane on Thursday, and that was enough to surrender the first set to Sevastova.

But Osaka came storming back to win the second with the loss of just five points.

Osaka then broke Sevastova’s serve to start the deciding set and was able to hold the advantage, sealing victory with her 11th ace of the match.

The 21-year-old has enormous power but said she was tested by Sevastova, who favours angles and deception over brute force, and who defeated her twice last year.

Osaka will now play either Lesia Tsurenko or Anett Kontaveit in the semi-finals and with the shock loss of defending champion Elina Svitolina on Wednesday, she is now the firm favourite for the title.