Marathon man Kei Nishikori secured a monumental upset by sweating out a 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) 6-3 win over world number one Novak Djokovic at the US Open to become the first Japanese man to reach a grand slam final.
In a remarkable display of endurance, Nishikori followed up punishing five-set wins over third seed Stan Wawrinka and fifth seed Milos Raonic with an even more extraordinary effort, grinding down the top-ranked Djokovic in two hours, 52 minutes on a sweltering Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Nishikori will face Marin Cilic in the final after the Croat pulled off a second semi-final upset by thumping Roger Federer in straight sets.
"It's just amazing, an amazing feeling beating the number one player and also playing much better in these couple of matches so I'm so happy," the 10th-seeded Nishikori said.
"It was really tough conditions today, felt a little bit heavy and humid too but I guess I love to play long matches and I hope I can recover well for the final."
The 24-year-old Japanese awaits the winner of the second semi-final between world number two and five-times US Open champion Roger Federer and 14th seed Marin Cilic in Monday's final.
"I don't know what's going on," said Nishikori, who is coached by former grand slam champion Michael Chang. "I was a little bit tight; especially it was my first semi-final in a grand slam."
Djokovic was magnanimous in defeat.
"It was not easy to play in these conditions but also he had more hours spent on the court. So it's no excuse," the Serb said.
"I expected him to be able to play another five-setter because he had two days off.
"He just played better in these conditions than I did.
"I just wasn't managing to go through the ball in the court. You know, I wasn't in the balance. Unforced errors. Even when the ball gets back to his part of the court it's pretty short; he takes advantage of it. On the other side I didn't. That's it."
-- Eurosport
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