体坛英语新闻：Nishikori wins U.S. Open semifinal for Asia

NEW YORK, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 10th-seeded Japanese star Kei Nishikori rewrote the Asian tennis history on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Shimane native beat the world No. 1 Novak Djokovic from Serbia 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, becoming the first Asian player to reach a Grand Slam men's singles final.

"I don't know what's going on," said Nishikori in the on-court interview. "I was a little bit tight, especially since it was my first semi-final in a Grand Slam. It's just an amazing, amazing feeling, beating the No. 1 player. I'm so happy."

Djokovic won three more points than Nishikori, but Nishikori was much more efficient in key points. The top seed got 13 breakpoints throughout the match, but he only converted four of them, while Nishikori got five out of seven breakpoints.

"I knew I was a little bit nervous, getting nervous, you know, first time semis here," said Nishikori. "but I think the confidence helped for today's match.

"I was playing really well and really aggressive, and, you know, didn't wait for the ball. Even the opponent is, you know, Novak, I was playing my tennis. Everything worked well today."

Nishikori began the first set with a break in the seventh game, and he seized the chance to close the set 6-4. The second set belonged to Djokovic. The 27-year-old Serb won five straight games after 1-1 and ended it 6-1.

The third set was the closest one in the two-hour-52-minute match. Nishikori had a chance to serve it out at 5-4, but Djokovic finished a break and brought the set to tiebreaker. Nishikori stormed to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker. Djokovic managed to come back until 4-5, but he made a couple of unforce errors to lose the set.

Nishikori seemed more concentrated in the fourth set, breaking twice to finish the match 3-1.

"It was even tough for me to play today, specially third and fourth I couldn't really put effort for every game," said Nishikori about the hot weather. "But, yeah, you know, I tried to concentrate with those important points."

Djokovic had reached U.S. Open finals in the past four seasons, but his record was ended on Saturday.

"I congratulate him for the effort," said Djokovic after the match. "He was the better player today."