Naomi Osaka of Japan hits a return during the women's singles quarterfinal match against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine at the 2018 US Open tennis championships in New York, the United States, Sept. 5, 2018. Naomi Osaka won 2-0. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Japanese stars Kei Nishikori and Naomi Osaka both reached semifinals of men's and women's singles respectively at the ongoing US Open on Wednesday.
Nishikori battled in five sets for four hours to edge past Marin Cilic of Croatia 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 while Osaka had a much easier time blitzing her opponent Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1.
In 2014, Cilic and Nishikori contested a surprise US Open final after stunning Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, respectively in the semifinals.
Four years after their breakthrough runs to the championship match, Nishikori avenged his final loss, recovering from 2-6, 2-4 down to take the win. The 2014 runner-up saved seven of 13 break points to advance to his first major semifinal in two years.
With his second win in four meetings against Cilic in New York, Nishikori has improved his overall head-to-heads against the 2014 champion to 9-6.
"It was really tough, especially at the end when he came back. It was great tennis today," Nishikori said.
The Japanese star will in the semifinals meet Djokovic, who defeated Australian John Millman 6-3, 6-4 and 6-4.
Earlier at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Osaka made her first major semifinal after beating Tsurenko in just 57 minutes. She's become the first Japanese woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Kimiko Date at Wimbledon 1996.
Osaka said: "After I went into the quarters, I kind of want to keep going, so I feel like I have to be focused and keep trying really hard."
The Japanese female number one said she's mentally prepared for a deep run in a major.
"Now I don't feel pressure, so I feel a little bit like I'm used to it," she explained. "In Indian Wells I got a bit distracted if I'm in the lead. And now I feel like I'm finding it easier to try to close it up as quickly as I can."
Winning in New York would be particularly special for Osaka, who grew up on Long Island as a child before moving to Florida. "I always thought if I were to win a Grand Slam, the first one I'd want to win is the US Open," she said.
Coming up next for her will be US player Madison Keys, last year's runner-up. Keys went through with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
