Alexander Zverev on the Rise as He Beats Nishikori

Defending champion Alexander Zverev pulled off a comeback to defeat Japan’s Kei Nishikori. The German reached the Citi Open semifinals with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Unfortunately, since rain played spoilsport, only two other men’s and women’s quarterfinals were completed. Subsequently, all play was called off on a soggy day. Another big shock was the withdrawal of three-time major champion Andy Murray.

The No. 1 seed beat older brother, Mischa, in the third round as well. He also proceeded to eliminate 2015 Washington champion Nishikori. The tournament in Washington serves as a warm-up for the U.S. Open.

With this victory, the 21-year old improved to a 14-2 winning streak in his four appearances at the Citi Open.

On Saturday, he’ll go up against 19-year-old Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas. The No. 10 seed downed No. 3 David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 to set up a clash with Zverev.

Tsitsipas is coming on the back of his run to the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the draw, Andy Murray was forced to pull out, citing fatigue. The British number 1 was supposed to face 19-year-old Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals. But now, it seems that de Minaur will be given a walkover into the semifinals.

In the remaining men’s quarterfinal, No. 16 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia will go up against unseeded Denis Kudla. Unfortunately, the match never got underway because of rain, so it was pushed to Saturday.

In the women’s draw, only one quarterfinal witnessed a conclusion. Germany’s Andrea Petkovic battled past No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8). Regarding, the other three women’s matches, they were all moved to Saturday.

As a result of the storms earlier in the week, it forced some men to play twice in one day. So, Magda Linette, Donna Vekic, Yulia Putintseva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Zheng Saisai and Allie Kiick will have to duke it out today.