Nishikori through as Wawrinka folds
Stan Wawrinka claimed an early lead against Kei Nishikori but fell away badly thereafter to exit the Rogers Cup at the semi-final stage.
Kei Nishikori took advantage of an error-strewn display from Stan Wawrinka on Saturday to reach the Rogers Cup final with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 win in Toronto.
Wawrinka led 5-2 in the opener, but failed to press home his advantage and eventually lost a tie-break after failing to take four set points.
After battling hard to claim the lead, Nishikori was then able to cruise through set two as his rival collapsed in surprising fashion - a truly horrendous miss at the net late on summing up Wawrinka's display.
Nishikori will face either Novak Djokovic or Gael Monfils on Sunday as he seeks a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.
Although second seed Wawrinka edged ahead early on, there were danger signs for the Swiss as he struggled to land a high percentage of first serves and proved unusually erratic on the backhand wing.
Nishikori was guilty of regular forehand errors, but managed to force a breaker after saving two set points in game 12.
Two more chances to take the opener came the way of Wawrinka thereafter, but he again missed out, missing his second opportunity courtesy of a double fault.
In contrast to his rival, Nishikori made no mistake when his set point arrived and it was plain sailing for the Japanese thereafter as Wawrinka folded.