Friday 27 February 2015 11:42, UK
Top seed Kei Nishikori overcame windy conditions to seal his spot in the semi-finals of the Mexican Open.
The Japanese 25-year-old defeated fifth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-4 but admitted afterwards his Ukrainian opponent gave him more problems than the scoreline suggests.
"It was a really tough match, especially with this wind. I'm really happy to win," said Nishikori on the official ATP Tour website.
Nishikori will move up to fourth in the world rankings if he beats fourth seed Kevin Anderson in his next match.
The South African world No 15 hit 32 winners in a 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over Viktor Troicki.
Second seed David Ferrer joined the pair in the last four after securing a 6-4 3-6 6-1 victory against Australia's Bernard Tomic.
The Spanish world No 9 needed an hour and 40 minutes to seal his progression and will face Ryan Harrison in the semi-finals after the American edged out sixth seed Ivo Karlovic, who came into the match fresh from winning in Delray Beach last week, 4-6 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-4).
