Nishikori takes Djoko scalp in US Open stunner

Kei Nishikori of Japan celebrates his victory over Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their US Open singles semi-finals in New York yesterday. Nishikori stunned Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4) 6-3.

DPA/New York

Kei Nishikori stunned Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win on a sweltering Saturday at the US Open to become the first Asian man to ever reach a Grand Slam final.

The Japanese tenth seed will face off tomorrow against the winner from five-time champion Roger Federer and Croatian Marin Cilic.

World number one Djokovic was playing his eighth straight New York semi and was bidding for a fifth consecutive final at Flushing Meadows and sixth overall (1-4 record).

Coming into the match, the Serb had only lost one set during the tournament. He missed the chance to play in his third grand slam final of the season after losing to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros and winning Wimbledon over Federer.

Nishikori, using former grand slam winner Michael Chang as his coaching consultant, has been setting records all week as the first from his country to play a semi in New York since 1918.

His run to the semi-finals has included winning back-to-back five-set matches of top 10 opponents (Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka) each of which lasted for more than four hours.

“It’s just an amazing feeling, I don’t know what’s going on,” said the winner. “I was a bit tight, it was my first Grand Slam semi-final.

“But it’s an amazing feeling to beat the number one player. I’m so happy.

“Conditions were so tough today, it felt really heavy and humid. I hope to recover well for the final.

“I hope this is big news in Japan, and hopefully they are up at 4 am watching.”

Nishikori, who has trained in Florida humidity for the past decade, put top seed Djokovic on the back foot by winning the opening set, only to lose the second as the heat began to take a toll.

But the Japanese ace recovered his poise in the third set, holding off four break points in the third game for 2-1 before breaking a somewhat distracted Djokovic for a 5-3 lead.

Nerves may have come into play as the 24-year-old lost his break a game later, 4-5. Both men served up love games to take it into a tiebreaker.

In the decider Nishikori ran away with the momentum, earning a 4-0 margin before Djokovic could make an impression.

A Djokovic forehand error yielded two set points for Nishikori, who claimed a two-sets-to-one lead on his first opportunity with a winner, 7-4.

Nishikori began the fourth set with a break as the energy seemed to drain out of Djokovic, who eventually went down after saving one match point before sending a tired forehand out to lose in just under two and three-quarter hours.