Nishikori, Wawrinka survive Geneva scares
The two top seeds in Geneva each won on Thursday, but neither Kei Nishikori nor Stan Wawrinka found things easy.
Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka each survived significant scares as they battled through to the semi-finals of the Geneva Open on Thursday.
Second seed Nishikori dropped the first set to Kevin Anderson and then saved three match points in a decisive tie-break before triumphing 2-6 6-4 7-6 (8-6).
"There haven't been too many times that I'm down match point and win, so it’s great for me," said the Japanese.
"He had more chances, but I served a little bit better in the end. It’s important to win some matches like this."
Next up for Nishikori is a last-four tie against qualifier Mischa Zverev, whose good form continued with a 6-4 7-5 win over fifth seed Steve Johnson.
Defending champion Wawrinka, meanwhile, came from a set and a break down to beat Sam Querrey 4-6 7-5 6-2.
The Swiss will now face Andrey Kuznetsov, who beat lucky loser Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in three sets.