Kei Nishikori led a trio of young guns into the semifinals of the Brisbane International on Friday, sending out another message that the next generation is getting ready to challenge the old guard.
Nishikori, still on a high after reaching the final of last year's U.S. Open, continued his impressive buildup to this month's Australian Open when he demolished Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-4.
He was joined in the last four by Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, another two up-and-comers tipped to challenge at the first Grand Slam of the season.
Raonic rode his booming serve to a 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) win over Australia's Sam Groth to set up a mouth-watering semifinal clash against Nishikori.
Dimitrov made light work of his quarterfinal with Martin Klizan, defeating the Slovakian 6-3, 6-4 to set up an encounter against either Roger Federer or James Duckworth in the last four.
Raonic and Dimitrov both made the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and while they stumbled against their more seasoned opponents they, along with Nishikori, have been earmarked as potential Grand Slam winners this year.
Nishikori took less than an hour to brush past Tomic, who was also tipped for big things after reaching the quarters at Wimbledon as a teenager in 2011.
"There was not a lot I could do," the Australian told reporters. "That's why he's gotten to No. 5 in the world and potentially has a big chance of becoming a top-three player this year."
Dimitrov saved two match points in his previous match against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy but the Bulgarian was always in control against Klizan.
Raonic had a tougher workout against Groth, another big server. The towering Canadian served 15 aces but more importantly, he held his composure in the tiebreakers.
"Now we are in the semifinals of a tournament," Raonic said.
"Everybody that's in that stage is already playing pretty well. They've gotten some matches behind them. Now it just comes down to stepping up."
Djokovic bounced
Doha AP
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was upset by Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 while playing through a sandstorm in the Qatar Open quarterfinals on Thursday.
Karlovic beat Djokovic when they last met in 2008, also the year of his only previous win over a world No. 1, Roger Federer in Cincinnati.
"He served very well," Djokovic said. "But you could expect that. I was coming into the match knowing that I will have very, very few chances. But I was hoping that these conditions and the wind will kind of give me some second-serve opportunities."
Despite the swirling wind, Karlovic's serve was stellar again, a 73 percent first-serve percentage.
In the third set, in which he served two aces and two service winners in the final game, Karlovic was even better on first serve, at 85 percent.
Djokovic's irritation at his inability to break Karlovic, boosted the lanky Croat.
"I looked at him when he threw the racket and when he smashed the ball, so I knew that he was a little bit frustrated," Karlovic said. "So I was just trying to stay calm."
He never offered Djokovic a break-point opportunity in the 2-hour, 15-minute match, and took advantage of a second break point in the seventh game of the third set with a perfect forehand pass.
"In these particular matches, one ball can decide a winner, and that was the case," Djokovic said. "Just played a little bit too defensive in that game. I just, instead of kind of going through the ball, just sent the ball back."
Karlovic added 21 aces to his resume for a career total of 9,062. This week, he joined Goran Ivanisevic (10,183) and Andy Roddick (9,074) as the only players since 1991 to serve more than 9,000 aces
In the semifinals, Karlovic will play David Ferrer, who beat Dustin Brown of Germany 6-2, 6-2. Brown gifted 61 unforced errors.
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