Nishikori in semifinals

 Japan’s fourth seed Kei Nishikori stormed into the last four of the Barcelona Open after ousting Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-3 on Friday. 

The Japanese will face Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis in one of the semifinals after he eased past Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-1, 6-4 in a nother last eight clash.  

Meanwhile, the Indian challenge ended with the defeat of Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi in the quarterfinals. 

The unseeded Indo-Pak pair put up a stiff resistance before losing 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-10 against the top seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor.

Earlier, Somdev Devvarman and his partner Ante Pavic lost to J Huta Galung and S Robert 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.