Marcos made light work of his quarter-final match at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships on Friday in Tokyo, dismissing Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-4.
In the 80-minute contest, Marcos fired nine aces, saved all three break points he faced and broke Tursunov three times from six opportunities.
“Dmitry is a tricky player,” said Marcos. “He can find a way to come back with his big shots, big serves and big returns. I felt pressure in the whole match. I’m very happy because when there was pressure, I served really well and took my chances at the beginning of the match and the beginning of the second set.”
Marcos is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since February, when he reached the last four in Zagreb. He was also a semi-finalist at the start of the season in Sydney. For a place in his 12th tour-level final he will face home favourite Kei Nishikori, the Japanese No. 1 who ousted second seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals.
Marcos takes a 3-0 career lead over Nishikori into the clash, having defeated the 22 year old most recently in straight sets at the Brisbane International. The match is scheduled to take place second on Centre Court on Saturday, with play beginning at 12noon local time (+8hrs BST; +6hrs Cyprus).
Check out the full order of play here.
Go, Marcos!
