Washington: Defending champion Alexander Zverev outlasted Japan’s Kei Nishikori 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of Washington Open tennis tournament while three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray withdrew citing fatigue.
Germany’s third-ranked Zverev, seeking his fifth final of the season and third title of the year after Munich and Madrid, Friday dispatched seventh-seed Nishikori, the 2015 champion, as he did in last year’s Washington semifinals.
“I felt like I had the more powerful shot,” Zverev said. “That worked out well in most of the rallies for me. It was a good high-level match.”
Zverev will face 10th-seeded Greek 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, who eliminated Belgian third seed David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 in just 74 minutes. “I’m super happy I got this win in two sets and saved some energy,” Tsitsipas said. “I was serving very well. Confidence plays a very important role in my game so getting early breaks was super important.”
However, Murray gave a walkover citing fatigue against his 19-year-old opponent Alex De Minaur sending the Australian to the semifinals. The Scot, who also withdrew from next week’s Toronto Masters event, was in only his third event back and first hardcourt event since March 2017 at Indian Wells after an 11-month layoff with a hip injury.
“I’m exhausted after playing so much over the last four days, having not competed on the hard courts for 18 months,” Murray said. “I also need to be careful and to listen to my body as I come back from a long-term injury. There are lots of positives to take from this week, so I’ll take some time to rest and recover and then head to Cincinnati early to prepare and get ready.”
De Minaur will next play either Russian 16th seed Andrey Rublev or American Denis Kudla, whose match was postponed to Saturday, among with three women’s quarterfinals, by a fifth consecutive day of rain.