Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - American favorite John Isner ousted Japanese star Kei Nishikori on Thursday to secure a berth in the semifinals at the $5.3 million Miami Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event.
The 22nd-seeded 6-foot-10 Isner vanquished the fourth-seeded U.S. Open runner- up Nishikori in 6-4, 6-3 fashion in 70 minutes at Crandon Park.
Isner won the final eight points of the first set, breaking Nishikori at love to close it out. He then ran out to a 3-0 lead in the second and was never threatened.
The 29-year-old Isner is now a perfect 6-0 in his career Masters quarterfinals after smacking 13 aces past Nishikori. The towering North Carolina native broke his world No. 5 Japanese counterpart two times, while Nishikori failed to enjoy even one break-point chance on Day 9 of the 12-day tournament.
Coming into Miami, Isner had lost 11 straight matches against Top-10 opponents since his run to the 2013 Cincinnati final.
Up next for Isner will be world No. 1 superstar Novak Djokovic or sixth-seeded David Ferrer, who will battle Thursday evening.
Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in last year's final to win his fourth Miami title. Ferrer was a runner-up in South Florida two years ago.
The other semifinal was set on Wednesday, when third-seeded two-time Miami champ Andy Murray topped Austrian Dominic Thiem in three sets and eighth- seeded 2010 finalist Tomas Berdych blitzed Argentine Juan Monaco in straights. The 2015 Australian Open runner-up Murray captured this event in 2009 and 2013 and was the Miami runner-up in 2012.
This week's champ will earn $900,400.
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