Saturday 27 September 2014 15:17, UK
Top seed Kei Nishikori set up a Malaysian Open final against Julien Benneteau after a hard-fought 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.
The Japanese hotshot will now face the French fourth seeded after the 32-year-old veteran continued his sterling run in the competition with a 6-4 6-4 upset of second seed Ernests Gulbis.
Nishikori, who drew a 5,000 sell-out crowd at the Putra Stadium in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, put in a commanding show for most of the match.
Using his trademark baseline power-play to rack quick points, he surged to a 3-1 lead after initial resistance from the world No 57 before holding the advantage to seal the first set
The world No 8 could not keep up the tempo in the second, as Nieminen hit back take the tie into the decider.
But the 24-year-old US Open finalist snapped back into action as he dictated play with a variation of winners, including one sublime backhand volley which paved the way to a 6-2 victory.
Nishikori is a great player, he's fast... I have to find a way to beat him tomorrow.
The 2012 and 2013 runner-up Benneteau defeated Latvia's Gulbis courtesy of some phenomenal court coverage and work-rate of the highest level and is now determined to break his Malaysian jinx.
"You never expect an easy match against the top 20, and today it played in my favour," said the 28th ranked player.
"Nishikori is a great player, he's fast... I have to find a way to beat him tomorrow."
Nishikori has a 5-4 record in ATP finals and is attempting to add to victories earlier this year in Memphis and Barcelona. He has a 2-1 head-to-head record against Benneteau.
Jamie Murray and his Australian partner John Peers reached the final of the men's doubles competition with a 6-2 7-6 (7-0) win over Murray's fellow Briton Dominic Inglot and Romania's Florin Mergea.
In the final Murray and Peers will face fourth seeds Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski.
