Kei Nishikori has advanced to a semi-final meeting with David Ferrer at the Madrid Open after beating home favourite Feliciano Lopez in straight sets on Friday.
A break in each set was enough for the 10th seed to record a 6-4 6-4 victory in 92 minutes.
The match went with serve until the seventh game, when Nishikori broke to move into a 4-3 lead, but Lopez held firm when next on serve, saving five set points to make the Japanese serve out.
It took world number 12 Nishikori four more attempts to wrap up the first, while Spaniard Lopez missed a break point opportunity which would have levelled the set up at five games apiece.
There were more wasted break point chances in the second, as firstly Lopez and Nishikori endured nervy holds, before the winner of the Barcelona Open two weeks ago grabbed a crucial lead.
He broke Lopez in the ninth game, and then served out to 15 to move into the last four of the tournament, where he will face David Ferrer, who beat Ernests Gulbis in two sets earlier today.
Joe Fish
