A tireless Kei Nishikori shocked 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday to claim his second top five scalp in two days and reach the semifinals of the Sony Open.
After knocking off fourth seeded Spaniard David Ferrer in a three-hour marathon on Tuesday, the 21st ranked Japanese was forced to go the distance again, surviving a two-hour centre court battle with Federer.
Nishikori has been one of Federer's few bogeymen, having now gotten the better of the Swiss maestro in two of their three career meetings.
A two-time Miami champion, Federer convincingly won the opening set and looked ready for an easy night when he twice went up a break in the second. But each time, the feisty Nishikori would immediately answer back then broke Federer again at 6-5 to level the match. With the third set heading towards a tie-break it was Federer who blinked while serving to stay in the match at 5-4, slamming an easy forehand into the net and then sending a return long to hand Nishikori triple match points.
Federer survived the first two but could not save the third, Nishikori whipping a forehand winner off the return to seal the upset. The victory setup a semifinal meeting against world number two Novak Djokovic, who ended Andy Murray's reign as Miami champion by easing past the sixth seeded Briton 7-5, 6-3.
Li in semis
World number two Li Na powered her way past 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 7-5 and into the semifinals of the women’s event, setting up another rematch of the Australian Open final against Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova.
Earlier on a windswept centre court, Cibulkova fought off three match points to claim a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 upset win over third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, propelling her into the top 10 for the first time in her career.
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