France’s Benoit Paire fought back to stun second seeded home favourite Kei Nishikori and set up a final meeting with Stan Wawrinka at the Rakuten Japan Open in Tokyo.
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Nishikori, the former US Open finalist looked on course for a routine win when he raced through the first set, but the unseeded Paire recovered to clinch a 1-6 6-4 6-2 win in one hour and 48 minutes.
Two breaks gave the favourite the opening set with ease, but he failed to convert any of his five break points in the second set as Paire levelled things up.
.@BenoitPaire into 4th @ATPWorldTour final with 4th Top 10 win at @RakutenOpen. http://t.co/AiAaF5OPl7 #atp #tennis pic.twitter.com/9aqigAmFy2
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) October 10, 2015
And Paire broke twice without reply in the decider to seal his spot in the final.
In the first semi-final, top-seed Wawrinka avoided an upset by ending Gilles Muller’s impressive run with a 6-4 7-6 (7/5) win to give himself a shot at an 11th career title.
The Swiss broke decisively for a 4-3 lead in the first set and, while Muller twice responded to dropping his serve in the second by breaking straight back, it was Wawrinka who was more commanding in the tie-break as he sealed the win.
