Stanislas Wawrinka will face Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals of the 2014 US Open on Wednesday night.
Wawrinka had a great start to the year as he sealed his first ever Grand Slam, defeating Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. The 29-year-old has found a little bit of a momentum again and is now three wins away from clinching the US Open title, after he ousted 16th seed Tommy Robredo 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 in the fourth round.
The Swiss star suffered from cramps but managed to see off his opponent, after battling more than three hours. Wawrinka saved six out of eight breakpoints and struck a whopping 75 winners to set up a meeting with Nishikori.
"I think there were a few moments in the match that made a big difference," Wawrinka pointed out.
"Mentally I was really strong today. I was accepting the fact that I was really down physically in the third set that I was struggling a lot with cramping and everything. But I wasn't complaining about that. I stayed positive with that."
Wawrinka had made it to the semifinals of US Open last year. When asked about his upcoming match against Nishikori, he said:
"Nishikori also playing well this year. A little bit more up and down. He's struggling physically sometimes. And it's different game with Nishikori. He's a shot maker. You have more rallies; you have more time to play the game. I think for me it's more about being aggressive from the baseline, trying to make him work as much as I can, and see how I can make a long match."
Nishikori, on the other hand, survived a five-set thriller against Canadian Milos Raonic, to find a place in US Open quarterfinal for the first time.
The Japanese defeated Raonic 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round match, which lasted four hours and 19 minutes. The 24-year-old managed to hit 53 winners against Raonic.
"It's going to bring confidence for sure for the next round," Nishikori admitted. "[It was a] really tough five sets. [I'm] very happy to win today. I'll try to recover [for] tomorrow [versus Wawrinka]. Tomorrow is going to be very important."
Nishikori and Wawrinka are meeting on the professional tour for the third time, with the Swiss leading the head-to-head record 2-0. They last met in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters in 2012, where Wawrinka emerged victorious 6-3, 6-3.
The players will take to the Arthur Ashe Stadium at 12:30 am IST.
Where to Watch Live
The day's action is scheduled for 11:30 pm IST (3:00 pm GMT, 4:00 pm BST and 11:00 am ET) start with live coverage on Ten Sports in India and live streaming option HERE. International viewers can catch the action HERE and HERE or listen to the action free HERE. The live updates of all matches are available online HERE, HERE or HERE.
Eurosport will broadcast matches live in the UK and Europe. Viewers can also live stream the action HERE or listen to the action live online on BBC HERE. Catch the action live on ESPN Network and CBS Sports Network in the United States or see live streaming HERE or HERE. SuperSport will telecast the action in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa and viewers can catch the matches live HERE.
