Tokyo, Japan – Sixth-seeded Milos Raonic and eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori both won their semifinal matches at the Japan Tennis Open on Saturday.
Raonic took down top-seeded Andy Murray, who was the defending Tokyo champ, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4) in the first match of the night while Nishikori defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2.
Nishikori, who won for the first time in four matches against Baghdatis, is the first Japanese player to reach the finals of this event and he will be going for the second title of his career as his only other win came in 2008 at Delray Beach.
Raonic, who has won two of the three matches against Murray this year, will be shooting for his fourth career title and third of the year as he posted wins at Chennai and San Jose.
Raonic and Nishikori have never faced each other before.
Murray had a string of 10 straight victories snapped as he was playing for the first time since capturing his first career Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open last month. The Scottish star had a brilliant summer, winning the gold medal in front of the British faithful at the London Olympics after a run to the final at Wimbledon.
The winner of this event will claim a first prize of $308,000.
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