By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, September 2, 2014
He had to stay up until 2:26 in the morning to do it, but Kei Nishikori reached his first US Open quarterfinal on Day 8.
Photo Source: AP
Don’t feel bad if you missed it—just know that it was a good one.
Kei Nishikori battled through hard-serving Milos Raonic in a late-night Labor Day thriller to reach his first US Open quarterfinal, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4.
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Nishikori withstood 35 aces and the loss of a third-set tiebreaker to come back and break Raonic once in the fourth set and once in the fifth to prevail.
Japan’s No. 1 hit 53 winners against 41 unforced errors to seal his third victory in four career battles against Raonic.
The four hour and 19 minute battle finished at 2:26 A.M., which ties John Isner and Philipp Kohlschreiber (2012, 3rd round) and Mats Wilander and Mikael Pernfors (1993, 2nd round), for the latest finish in the tournament’s history.
“Yeah, very happy to see a lot of people even 2:00 at the night. I don't even know how they go back home,” Nishikori said.
Nishikori, who reached the fourth round at the US Open in 2008, will face Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals.