Tennis: Nishikori Sets Sights On Slam Title

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan 7, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 07th Jan, 2017 ) - Kei Nishikori says a Grand Slam title is within reach following his impressive straight sets win over US Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International Saturday.

Nishikori, 27, beat the Swiss world number four 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in one hour, 40 minutes at the Pat Rafter Arena. He will now take on Grigor Dimitrov in the decider after the Bulgarian stunned top seed and defending champion Milos Raonic 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 in the second semi-final.

Nishikori, one of the best current players not to have won a Grand Slam singles title, got close in 2014 when he finished runner-up to Marin Cilic at the US Open.

But the world number five said after beating Wawrinka, a three-time Slam winner, that he has the ability to become the first male Asian player to win a Major.

"This one will give me a lot of confidence, and hopefully tomorrow too," he said. "The Grand Slam is going to be a big goal for me to play well." After an even first set with no breaks of serve Nishikori stepped up a gear to race away with the tiebreak.

He then began to outplay Wawrinka and dominated the second set. "It was a really tough first set," he said. "But I really stayed tough until the tiebreak, and I got one or two chance in the tiebreak.