Miami Open: Victoria Azarenka to play Svetlana Kuznetsova

Victoria Azarenka celebrates her 6-2, 7-5 win against Angelique Kerber of Germany in the Miami Open semi-finals at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Florida, on Thursday. (Photo: AFP)

Japan’s Kei Nishikori saved five match points to down Gael Monfils on Thursday and advance into a semi-final showdown with Australian Nick Kyrgios at the ATP and WTA Miami Open.

Two-time Grand Slam champions Victoria Azarenka and Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the women’s final with straight-set triumphs, but the top drama came in sixth seed Nishikori’s 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over the French 16th seed.

Nishikori denied Monfils four times in the 10th game of the final set and again in the 12th before taking the last three tie-breaker points to end a tension-packed thriller after two hours and 29 minutes.

“I thought, ‘That’s it. It’s going to be tough to come back,’” Nishikori said. “But I tried to play one good point at a time. I had to focus to come back and I did it.”

Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, will play Friday for a berth in Sunday’s final against 24th seed Kyrgios, who ousted Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

Monfils had three early match points in the 10th game, only to fire errant backhands each time, and Nishikori rescued a fourth with a forehand winner then saved a fifth in the 12th game with a forehand winner, setting up the tie-breaker.

Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion from Belarus, defeated reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 7-5, while Russian 30-year-old Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open champion, beat Swiss 19th seed Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3.

“It’s a final so anything can happen. It’s a match where you give it all,” Azarenka said. “She is such a talented player. It’s going to be a challenge but I’m ready for it.”

Kuznetsova and Azarenka have split eight career meetings, but Azarenka has won the past three without dropping a set, most recently in the 2013 Australian Open semis.

“Vika, she is doing amazing,” Kuznetsova said. “She is extremely prepared, playing really confident, taking all her chances.”