Top four seeds make semis at Shanghai Masters

SHANGHAI — For the first time in the four-year existence of the Shanghai Masters, the top four seeds have reached the semifinals.

Top-seeded Roger Federer, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Andy Murray, and No. 4 Tomas Berdych succeeded in meeting the expectations of their seedings on Friday.

The top four men's seeds have also reached the semifinals at four other tournaments this year: Australian Open; Doha, Qatar; Estoril, Portugal; and Umag, Croatia.

Federer turned out Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 to set a semifinal date with Murray, the two-time defending Shanghai champion.

"I assume he's very confident right now and probably playing with a little bit less pressure," Federer said of Murray. "Then again, that can go either way. It's been a long year for all of us.

"I'm looking forward to the match. It's always great playing the best players."

Murray won their last match in the London Olympics final to lead their matchups 9-8. Murray also beat Federer in the 2010 Shanghai final. He improved his Shanghai record to 11-0 by overcoming a tenacious Radek Stepanek 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Djokovic advanced to the semifinals by pasting unseeded Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 6-3. He'll face Berdych, who outlasted Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the first match of the day. Berdych has beaten Djokovic only once in 10 matches.

Federer was merely solid, managing to save five of seven break point opportunities he offered to Cilic. He was broken in the fourth game of the first set and when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second.

Haas was the first player this week to break Djokovic's serve with both breaks coming in the second set. The first break was in the second game and the other one came when Djokovic was serving for the match at 5-2.

"(I was) a little bit more up and down with the service games," said Djokovic. "But generally when I needed to, I played well. Played very solid from the baseline."

Stepanek dominated the first set and never offered Murray an opportunity to break serve. The Czech posted 10 winners to only three for Murray.

Murray rebounded in the second set, breaking serve to go ahead 4-2. Stepanek had two opportunities to retrieve the service break on Murray's serve in the seventh game, but Murray held on to his lead.

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Raonic stuns Murray in Japan Open semis; Nishikori prevails

Milos Raonic of Canada outsted top-seeded Andy Murray to move into the final of the Japan Open, edging the defending champion 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4) on Saturday.

One more to go: Kei Nishikori lifts his arms in triumph after beating Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Japan Open on Saturday. AP

Raonic, seeded sixth and ranked 15th, will meet Kei Nishikori in Sunday's final after he routed unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 6-2 in just over one hour.

Nishikori, ranked 17th, defeated Baghdatis for the first time after having lost three previous matches to the Cypriot.

Nishikori and Raonic will play for the first time in the final, with the Japanese seeking his first title of the season.

Nishikori is the first Japanese to advance to the final since the event was sanctioned by the ATP in 1973.

"I can't believe it, to be honest," said Nishikori, who lost in the first round the last two years. "I haven't had great results here and I was struggling up until now."

"Playing in Japan means a lot to me. I don't think I've ever been this happy in my career. Winning a title in Japan has always been a career goal of mine."

Eighth seed Nishikori was in control from start to finish on this day.

He broke Baghdatis, once ranked eighth in the world, in the third game to take a 2-1 lead and won another break point at 5-2 to win the first set.

In the second set, Nishikori jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back to move into his first final of the year. Nishikori said his returns will be key against Raonic, who he will play for the first time.

"I think he has the best serve on the tour," Nishikori said. "Murray has the best return on the tour, but even he still won only 18 percent of points on the first serve."

Playing under a blazing sun at Ariake Colosseum, the big-hitting Raonic broke Murray in the opening game of the match, then used his strong serve and powerful forehand to go up 5-3, before breaking again to claim the set 6-3.

The Olympic champion looked sluggish from the outset and had to save two break points to hold serve for 1-1 in the second set.

After Raonic held to go up 3-2, a frustrated Murray broke his racket by smashing it on the court.

The were no breaks of serve in the second set, and the contest proceeded to a tiebreak, where Raonic misplayed a volley to give Murray a 6-5 lead and then couldn't handle a Murray forehand that gave him the tiebreak 7-5, squaring the contest.

Murray turned the tide in his favor in the third set by breaking Raonic with a sublime backhand down the line to move ahead 3-1. Murray made it 4-1 on serve and looked to be in control, only to see Raonic break back for 4-3 and then hold for 4-4.

Murray held to go up 5-4 and then had two match points on Raonic's served in the 10th game, but could not capitalize as the Canadian held to send it to another tiebreak.

Raonic took control in the tiebreak and finished it 7-5.

"Live and die by the serve. I'm not afraid to go for it on my second serve. I know what I am capable of," Raonic said.

Murray and Raonic had split their two previous career meetings, both this year. Raonic beat Murray on clay at the Barcelona Open, while Murray knocked Raonic out of the U.S. Open in the fourth round.

"The first set was poor from my side," said Murray. "I played better in the second and third sets, but it was a disappointment not to close out the match. It came down to one or two points in the end."

BEIJING — Zhang Ze said he took inspiration from Grand Slam-winner Li Na after a record-breaking run which raised hopes that China's struggling men could finally emerge from the shadows of their female tennis stars.

In control: Kei Nishikori plays a return against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in Saturday's Japan Open semifinals. Nishikori won 6-2, 6-2. KYODO

The world No. 165 made history this week when he became the first Chinese man ever to beat a top-20 player, with a three-set win over Richard Gasquet that put him into the quarterfinals of the China Open.

His defeat of the Frenchman, ranked 14th, also meant China's top player has gotten further in an ATP tournament than any other Chinese man in 17 years, after Pan Bing made the Seoul semifinals in 1995.

After his campaign was halted by Florian Mayer on Friday, the 22-year-old right-hander from Nanjing was quick to name 2011 French Open champion Li, Asia's only singles Grand Slam winner, as his guiding light.

"Li Na is our example, as a role (model)," he said, adding that his next goal was to become the first Chinese man to break into the top 100.

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Ferrer, Almagro lead singles sweep in Davis Cup semis

GIJON, Spain — David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro gave Spain a commanding 2-0 lead over the United States in their Davis Cup semifinal on Friday after doggedly defending their near-perfect clay court records in the competition.

Ferrer overcame a sluggish start to put the hosts ahead in the best-of-five series with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Sam Querrey. Almagro then overcame John Isner's constant fightbacks in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory.

The duo improved to 23-1 on clay in Davis Cup action.

Almagro overcame 25 aces from Isner, who saved three match points before hitting a forehand long to leave the defending champions one point away from their fourth final in five years.

The U.S. has only rallied back to win from a 0-2 deficit once in 38 ties — in 1934 against Australia. Since the start of World Group play, Spain is 37-0 after winning both the opening singles.

"After the effort the Americans showed today, we know that final point won't be easy," Spain captain Alex Corretja said. "They've shown they've come here to give everything."

The U.S. has to win Saturday's doubles to stay alive, and will feel confident about its chances with American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan facing Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez.

The Bryan twins are 4-0 when the U.S. is facing a 2-0 deficit, and are 5-0 against Spain.

"Nothing's impossible," U.S. captain Jim Courier said. "There's no clock in tennis and it always comes down to who wins the last point."

Even without Rafael Nadal in the lineup, Ferrer and Almagro showed they could lead Spain to victory.

While Querrey wasted nine break opportunities in the fourth set of his match to lose, Isner took advantage of his lone one in the fourth set of his match to stretch it to a fifth and deciding frame.

As the light quickly faded, neither player relented on serve. Isner fired another ace to save a 16th break point before three of his 124 errors on the day undid him in the final game.

Isner netted on consecutive points to give Almagro his last match point, which the plucky Spaniard converted when Isner's forehand sailed long.

"Those were pretty bad errors, they were simple shots especially from volleys. I should have made all of them," Isner said.

"Maybe fatigue played a part, but I did such a good job of hanging in there the whole fourth set and I sort of gave it away in that last set."

Ferrer, who played in the U.S. Open semifinals on Sunday, started well with a break but eventually surrendered his only two service games of the match for the defending champions to trail after the first set.

Querrey, returning to Davis Cup play for the first time since 2010, failed to maintain his early rhythm and was broken six times by the fifth-ranked Ferrer, whose ability to hold his serve secured a hard-fought victory by saving nine break points in the fourth set to hold off a late charge from his opponent.

"It's never easy to adapt from hard court to clay, and with only three to four days even less," said Ferrer, who is 15-0 on clay in the competition. "I didn't feel too bad but I didn't play perfect tennis either."

Querrey had taken a set off Nadal in his Davis Cup debut four years ago but couldn't hold his early momentum nor secure a late break at the purpose-built Hermanos Castros Park venue, where the wind gusted off the Bay of Biscay and neither player served particularly well to combine for 12 double faults.

"On a couple of them I should have been more aggressive but he played good points," said the 26th-ranked Querrey, who hit 70 unforced errors while failing to convert 12 break chances.

"I feel if I get one of those breaks it could be a different game."

Isner had beaten Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in U.S. away wins at Switzerland and France to come into the Asturian city with a 4-0 record on clay in the competition this season. But the 206-cm American, who is famous for having played the longest match in tennis history, dropped to 0-3 in five-set Davis Cup matches.

Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

The winner plays either Argentina or the Czech Republic in November's final.

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Djokovic, Ferrer make semis

NEW YORK — Locked in a taut, thrill-a-minute second set, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro headed to a tiebreaker and produced a 20-stroke masterpiece of a point befitting a pair of past U.S. Open champions.

More than a dozen shots in, defending champion Djokovic drew del Potro forward with a drop shot, then tossed up a lob. Del Potro, the 2009 champion, sprinted with his back to the court, got to the ball and lofted a lob the other way. Djokovic slammed an overhead. Del Potro somehow kept the ball in play. Djokovic laced a drop shot. Again, del Potro got there, attempting another lob. It landed long.

A point from a two-set lead, Djokovic threw his head back, roared "Come on!" and pumped his arms. Del Potro leaned his elbows atop the net, hunched over and rested his head on his arms.

Close and compelling as their quarterfinal was, it might as well have been over right then and there. Djokovic's down-the-line backhand winner seconds later ended the tiebreaker and gave him a commanding lead on the way to a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over del Potro on Thursday night that put the Serb in his 10th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.

"We played some incredible rallies and incredible points," the second-seeded Djokovic said. "It's always entertaining, always so much fun, playing in these night sessions."

Djokovic will face fourth-seeded David Ferrer on Saturday, with a spot in Sunday's final at stake. Ferrer advanced to his fourth career major semifinal by using his own version of leg-churning, ball-chasing tennis to outlast eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in 4 hours, 31 minutes.

Olympic champion Andy Murray and 2010 Wimbledon runnerup Tomas Berdych — who eliminated 17-time major champion Roger Federer — earned their semifinal berths Wednesday.

Ferrer needed a mid-match pedicure of sorts, seemed bothered when Tipsarevic got a mid-game medical timeout and, worst of all, was down 4-1 in the fifth set.

In the end, though, the indefatigable Spaniard was barely better, as he usually is when matches go the distance. He has won four consecutive five-setters and is 17-9 overall.

"I don't have words," said Ferrer, who reached the semifinals at the French Open in June. "It was a very emotional match."

When it ended on Tipsarevic's backhand into the net, Ferrer raised his arms, then knelt near the baseline. The weary foes met at the net for a hug.

"David is a fighter. He is one of the biggest competitors we have in the game. People . . . overlook him," Djokovic said. "You need to earn your points against him."

Hmmmm.

Sound familiar?

Del Potro might use those exact words to describe Djokovic.

Under the lights at night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the showcase matchup of Djokovic's squeaky-sneaker defense, reflex returns and line-catching groundstrokes against the seventh-seeded del Potro's big-as-can-be forehands topping 160 kph lasted a little more than three hours.

It was tremendously good every step of the way, and the second set alone was 84 minutes long — 11 minutes more than Djokovic's entire first-round match last week.

"Crucial," Djokovic said about Thursday's second set. "It could have gone either way."

Djokovic and del Potro, a 200-cm Argentine, each was left smacking himself in the head with a racket after an ugly mistake — the shot-making was so high-caliber that any miscue really stood out. The full house responded more than once with standing ovations, but the loudest and longest came before the tiebreaker.

These are the only two men who have managed to beat Federer and Rafael Nadal, owner of 11 major trophies, in the course of a single Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic and del Potro each did it while on the way to the championship at Flushing Meadows.

In the three years since del Potro's triumph, though, he hasn't reached another major final.

He was sidelined for most of the 2010 season — and missed out on a chance to defend his U.S. Open title — because of a right wrist injury that required surgery. He's had problems with his left wrist recently, limiting the effectiveness of his two-fisted backhand.

Still, he beat Djokovic for the bronze medal at the London Olympics last month and gave the guy all he could handle throughout the second set.

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Kings stun Blues on road to open Western Conference semis

Watch the throne: Kings goalie Jonathan Quick deflects a shot by the Blues' Andy McDonald on Saturday in St. Louis. Los Angeles won 3-1 to take a 1-0 lead in their playoff series. AP

ST. LOUIS — Goals from unexpected sources put the Los Angeles Kings in position for another road triumph. Jonathan Quick — no surprise there — made those scores stand up.

Matt Greene scored his first career playoff goal short-handed late in the second period and rookie Slava Voynov also got his first of the playoffs as the Kings beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 in the opener of a Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday night.

"It's definitely a great feeling to be able to chip in and help out a little bit," Greene said. "But we have a lot of work to do."

Quick, who shut out the Blues twice in the regular season, made 28 saves and is 5-1 in the postseason with a 1.55 goals-against average. He was at his best in the first period, charging from the crease to stuff a backhander by B.J. Crombeen and also stopped a wraparound attempt by Patrik Berglund.

"It was a great win," Quick said. "We get to enjoy it for five minutes and then focus on Monday."

Game 2 is Monday night in St. Louis.

The Blues could be without defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who didn't play in the third period after getting his head driven into the boards by Dwight King behind the St. Louis net on the penalty that led to the short-handed goal.

Coach Ken Hitchcock seemed to indicate Pietrangelo had concussion symptoms, but said he couldn't concern himself with that right now.

"I don't want to get into whether he's going to play or not play," Hitchcock said. "Everybody saw the hit. We all know what the injury is. If he's not in, then somebody else gets to jump up.

"I've got bigger issues than replacing Petro. We need much more commitment from our top players."

Dustin Penner added an empty-netter for the Kings, who were 3-0 on the road while taking down the President's Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games in the first round. Los Angeles is the eighth seed in the conference but won the season series 3-1.

"No one gave us a good chance against Vancouver, I don't think," forward Dustin Brown said. "I doubt very few people are giving us a chance against the Blues. It's up to us."

NEW YORK — Chris Kreider is six games into his NHL career and days shy of his 21st birthday.

And yet the Stanley Cup playoffs are anything but overwhelming for the newest New York Rangers forward who has quickly become a hit on Broadway.

Kreider scored the go-ahead goal and then set up Brad Richards' insurance tally 90 seconds later in the third period to lift New York to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday in the opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Kreider, who earlier this month helped Boston College win the NCAA championship, scored the second goal of his NHL career — and these playoffs — and he did it at the perfect time to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead 7:00 into the third.

Both Kreider's goals have been playoff game-winners. He also had the deciding marker in New York's Game 6 victory at Ottawa when the Rangers played the first of two potential elimination games in the first round.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words," Kreider said. "I'm just trying to keep my head down and work hard. Whether or not the puck goes in, I'm just trying to play the same role I play every night and be consistent and be defensively reliable."

Kreider got into the Rangers lineup only because fellow rookie Carl Hagelin was suspended for three games when he elbowed Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson in Game 2.

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Sharapova into Stuttgart semis

Marathon battle: Maria Sharapova plays a shot from Australia's Samantha Stosur in their quarterfinal match at the Porsche Grand Prix on Friday. Sharapova won 6-7 (5-7). 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. AP

STUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka needed nearly 3 hours to overcome big-serving Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 on Friday for a place in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals that feature the top four players in the world rankings.

Azarenka will face fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Li Na.

Second seed Maria Sharapova rallied to outlast Sam Stosur of Australia 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in a match that went a minute over 3 hours. Sharapova will face third-seeded Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion who beat Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in the last quarterfinal.

Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, played nearly flawless tennis and a double fault by the Russian gave her a match point at 5-3 in the second set. But Sharapova saved it with a forehand winner and held serve.

The first break point Stosur faced in the match came in the next game and she netted a forehand to allow Sharapova to level the score.

Sharapova then started raising her game to win the tiebreaker and take control.

She broke serve for a 6-5 lead and closed out the match in the next game despite a double-fault.

Barthel fired 13 aces but her serve deserted her in the final game. The German failed to win a point and double-faulted on match point, one of her 16 double faults.

Barthel came back from a break down and saved an earlier match point in the 10th game of the third set. The match on indoor clay lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes.

"She is very tough to play," Azarenka said. "She's much more confident now and her serve is right up there with the best. We were playing over two hours and she was still serving aces."

Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, is looking for a tour-high fifth title of the year.

BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal dispatched Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-2 Friday to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, while Milos Raonic served 14 aces and upset second-seeded Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

The top-seeded Nadal moved his Serbian opponent around the red-clay court with his powerful forehand.

The second-ranked Spaniard broke Tipsarevic in his first service game to set the tone for his 32nd consecutive win at the tournament. Tipsarevic earned three break points in the last game of the first set, but Nadal recovered to win five straight points.

Nadal was broken for the first time to make it 2-2 in the second set, giving the fifth-seeded Tipsarevic a glimmer of hope. But Nadal won the next four games, capping a dominating performance with two straight aces to close out the match in 1 hour, 23 minutes.

"In the first set I was playing really well, and then at the start of the second he attacked more while I left my shots short," Nadal said. "But I am satisfied with the match. I am in the semifinals again. Tomorrow I will have to play at my highest level."

Nadal, a six-time champion at the tournament, will face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after Kei Nishikori was forced to retire with an injury when trailing 4-2 in the first set.

Raonic, who trains at the Real Club de Tenis, used his strong forehand to beat Murray.

The 11th-seeded Canadian broke the fourth-ranked Murray to lead 4-3 and then set up a set point with an ace before smacking a forehand down the line to take the first set.

Murray managed only four points on Raonic's serve in the first set and continued to struggle on the return in the second. But Murray broke Raonic when the Canadian served for the match before losing in the tiebreaker.

"It's very, very difficult and a big plus in confidence for me," Raonic said. "Clay's not his best surface, but he consistently does well on it. Last year he reached the semifinals at the French Open, Monte Carlo and Rome, so he can play really well on it. For me, it was a big win, regardless of the surface."

Raonic is one win away from his fourth final of the season. He will next face David Ferrer, who saved three match points while rallying to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.

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Federer shakes off pesky Seppi to reach semis at Qatar Open

DOHA — Defending champion Roger Federer extended his winning streak to 20 straight matches Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Qatar Open, despite being stretched by Andreas Seppi of Italy to three sets in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory.

The third-ranked Federer set up a rematch of last year's semifinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The sixth-ranked Frenchman defeated Albert Ramos of Spain 6-2, 6-1.

Rafael Nadal also reached the semifinals, playing some of his best tennis this week in dispatching of Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4. He will face Gael Monfils, who won the last four games in each set to beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-2, 6-3 and ensure that the top four seeds reached the semifinals for the second year in a row.

The 30-year-old Federer, who is 26-3 at the Qatar Open and is looking to win his fourth title in Doha, hasn't lost since falling to Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals.

"I thought I started well. I was able to play aggressive, not giving too much rhythm. He was obviously missing more shots due to that," Federer said. "I thought he was a better player in that second set and deserved that set, and then the third set was close. I had my chances, he had his chances. But I was able to take mine."

Federer, who had never dropped a set against Seppi in seven wins, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and appeared on the way to an easy victory. But he fell apart in the second set, going down 5-1 after a string of unforced errors coupled with improved returns from the 38th-ranked Italian. Federer came back to even the set at 5-5 but Seppi took the last two games, leveling the match when the 16-time Grand Slam champion hit his return long.

Federer fully recovered in the third, breaking Seppi to go up 2-1. He saved two break points to take control at 5-3 and closed out the match with a forehand winner into the corner.

Federer chalked up his struggles in the second set to the return game of Seppi and his own defensive lapses.

"I definitely think Seppi, he's a good return player," Federer said. "When you give him too many second serves, he can take advantage of that. . . . I had some chances to maybe not get broken a couple of times. So often I had the lead in some of the service games where I did get broken eventually, and I hope I can sort of not make that happen so often."

Facing his toughest test yet in the former eighth-ranked Youzhny, the second-ranked Nadal went on the attack from the beginning.

He stretched the Russian with his forehand but failed to convert several break points early on. He finally broke Youzhny in the fifth game to go up 3-2 and held on to win the first set. Nadal broke Youzhny twice in the second set to go up 4-1, before Youzhny earned his only break of the match to make it 4-3.

Nadal then struggled to serve out the match, having to save four break points before clinching the victory with a volley into an empty court.

"I think I played my best match here today," Nadal said. "Doing a lot of things very, very well. . . . For moments, I enjoyed playing tennis a lot tonight."

After meeting up with Schalke's Spanish forward Raul Gonzalez, who watched the match with his teammates, Nadal told reporters he is also feeling happier about his game and appeared to have the spark back following a year in which he repeatedly lost to Novak Djokovic and bemoaned his play as sometimes too predicable.

"Well, I think I am fresh mentally. That's important," Nadal said. "But I want to do it well, and I really am motivated to try to play well . . . I am in the right way. That's what I can say. My feeling is I am in the really right way. We'll see what's going on. I am doing much better than what I felt before this tournament, so that's a really positive thing."

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Kyoto Sanga advance to Emperor's Cup semis

KAWASAKI — Kyoto Sanga filled out the Emperor's Cup semifinal bracket as the J2 side continued their scalping of the J. League with a 1-0 win against Shonan Belllmare on Saturday.

In a tactical tussle between two sides coached by former national team assistants, Brazilian striker Dutra netted the only goal midway through the first half for Kyoto, which had sent holders Kashima Antlers packing in the previous round.

Sanga, who will face J1 heavyweights Yokohama F Marinos in Thursday's semifinal at Tokyo's National Stadium, will be joined in the last four by J2 champions FC Tokyo.

No J2 team has yet to win the Emperor's Cup.

"It was a tough game for us," said Kyoto coach Takeshi Oki, who worked under Takeshi Okada as Japan reached the second round at last year's World Cup.

"We wanted to attack more than defend, but they wouldn't let us get forward. We've got Marinos next, and we'll do everything to try to beat them."

Tokyo edged Urawa Reds 1-0 earlier in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, to set up a date with Cerezo Osaka, who eliminated Shimizu S-Pulse 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes.

Naohiro Ishikawa struck the lone goal in the 20th minute for Tokyo, which reached the semis for the second straight year. Toshiyuki Takagi had equalized for Shimizu in the 104th minute to invite the shootout.

Marinos also prevailed on penalties, knocking out Nagoya Grampus 4-3 in the shootout after a goalless extra-time draw at home in Mizuho Athletics Stadium.

Dragan Stojkovic's side, which needed penalties to edge J. League champion Kashiwa Reysol 9-8 in Wednesday's quarterfinal, finished the year without a single title.

Grampus' Keiji Yoshimura and Danilson missed from the spot as Marinos converted four in a row to advance.

At Todoroki Stadium in what turned out to be Yasuharu Sorimachi's last match as Shonan manager, Dutra struck in the 40th minute with the flick of his right foot as Michitaka Akimoto headed down from a right corner.

Sorimachi's men were unfortunate not to have scored in the 75th minute as Kyoto 'keeper Yuichi Mizutani twice saved off his line amid a penalty-box scramble.

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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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