Kei Nishikori swept aside Rafa Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Friday (Aug 13) with a swift 6-2 6-4 victory, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic saved two match points before beating Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
Japan's Nishikori, seeded fourth, took just 82 minutes to beat the Spaniard, a 14-times grand slam champion and a winner three times at the Rogers Cup.
"I was close in Madrid, but today I was dominating everything," said Nishikori after getting his first win over Nadal in eight attempts. "I definitely needed to change some of my tactics when playing against Rafa. I had to play 100 percent to beat him."
Nishikori will next meet Andy Murray in the semifinals after the Briton defeated defending champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-4 6-4.
The win extended Djokovic's Master Series streak to 29 victories. He has not lost since Roger Federer beat him inShanghai last year.
A victory in Montreal would be his record-tying fifth Masters Series title of the year, equaling his own mark in 2011 and Nadal's from 2013.
Unseeded Chardy also clawed his way back from the brink, saving seven match points to beat American John Isner 6-7(9) 7-6(13) 7-6(4) and reach his first Masters Series semifinal.
"It was a crazy match," Chardy said. "We both served really well and we both had our chances, so I am happy that I won it in the end.
"On those match points, I was only thinking about where I wanted to hit my serve or how to play the point. Under pressure it's easy to get nervous and miss if you start thinking about the match point or the break point."
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