Kei Nishikori is calm and quiet on court and a paragon of sportsmanship, but the Japanese enjoyed taking revenge against Andy Murray at the US Open on Wednesday.
Nishikori had lost seven of eight of their previous matches before his impressive 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-5 upset of the world number two Briton to reach the semi-finals where he will face Swiss third seed Stan Wawrinka.
“I think it means a lot, especially since I have been losing to Andy a lot,” the sixth seed told reporters.
“And especially this stage. It’s a big opportunity for me to play today’s match.”
Nishikori ticked a lot of boxes with his gruelling victory.
It was his first victory ever against a player ranked in the top two and it avenged the semi-final loss at the Rio Olympics where Murray went on to win gold and Nishikori settled for bronze.
Murray had also won in five sets in this year’s Davis Cup.
“I was ready to play today’s match,” said Nishikori. “Actually, we just played this year a really long match. I think it was close to five hours in Davis Cup and I lost the match, so it was great to (get) revenge.”
The 26-year-old was helped by a 20-minute rain delay in the second set as the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof was closed.
“Before the rain delay I think I was a little bit out of my concentration. I felt like I didn’t know what to do,” said Nishikori.
“After the rain delay I think I was more focused and started playing better tennis, so I was getting more confidence.”
Nishikori, spurred on by many Japanese supporters in the stadium, played a more attacking game.
“I saw some opportunity to come in (to the net) today so I tried to be aggressive. I saw that’s what I had to do. Especially against Andy. He has great defence,” said Nishikori, who rushed the net 39 times, winning 27 points.
He also won five of eight points with serve-and-volley.
“I don’t know why I did serve-and-volley so much, but I felt like it was working ... I think it was a great mix-up, serve-and-volley and come to the net a lot.”
Nishikori said he gets a lift from the New York audience.
“I love the crowd. It makes me more motivated. It’s a little bit different than other grand slams,” he said. “I think it’s more loud and it’s more like a big party on the court.”
Meanwhile, Wawrinka outlasted tiring former champion Juan Martin Del Potro in four sets to advance to the semi-finals.
Twice grand slam winner Wawrinka ended the rousing comeback effort by the Argentine at Flushing Meadows with a 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3 6-2 win to close out Day 10 at the year’s last grand slam.
“It was an amazing match for me, one of my toughest matches, mentally and physically against Juan Martin,” Wawrinka said.
“He’s an incredible player and I’m really happy to have won that match.”