By Lauren Lynch
Photo Credit: Sean Bradley

(April 8, 2011) 21-year-old Kei Nishikori dominated the court against veteran to the tour and first seed, Mardy Fish, 6-3, 6-2, at the US Men's Clay Court Championships. Fish has come off the high of being crowned the new USA No. 1 but could not cut it on Friday night and will not break into the top 10 in next week's South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings.

Coming up on Saturday is Nishikori's second ATP World Tour semifinal where he will play Pablo Cuevas for the first time. Nishikori is playing with precision and has won 100% (27/27) of his service games. He is nicknamed "Project 45" because if he reaches 45 in the rankings he will become the No. 1 Japanese player. Sixth seed Nishikori and seventh seed Cuevas are the only seeds left in the draw and will play the likes of Ivo Karlovic or Ryan Sweeting in the final on Sunday.

In their first meeting, Pablo Cuevas upset the third seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3. Similar to World No. 61 Nishikori, Cuevas of Uruguay upset the USA No. 1 of the time, Andy Roddick, last week in Miami (responsible for Fish rising to the top position). Cuevas was a former World No. 14 but is now the World No. 66.

Remember to check out Nishikori's causes to raise funds for the Japanese earthquake victims on Facebook or Ace Authentic auction.