Nishikori reaches Eastbourne semis

Eastbourne England — Kei Nishikori advanced to the semifinals of the AEGON International, a final grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon, with a morale-boosting 6-2, 6-3 victory Thursday over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

Against the player who routed top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the previous round, Nishikori converted five of 10 break points while saving nine of 11 break points on his serve.

"I feel good about my tennis this week," Nishikori said. "I played two good matches today. On grass, I was making a lot of unforced errors from the baseline until last year. But I've been hitting the ball patiently and winning points this year."

The 21-year-old, ranked 59th in the world, will next play third-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.

Earlier Thursday, Nishikori beat Germany's Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in his second-round match that had been suspended by rain Wednesday.

The Wimbledon Championships are scheduled for June 20-July 3.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event in which Nishikori has not won a match.

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