Nishikori, Benneteau reach Malaysian Open final

KUALA LUMPUR: Top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday.
Playing in his first tournament since reaching the US Open final, Nishikori converted six of his 13 break points and fired eight aces to defeat Nieminen in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
“I had a couple of unforced errors in the last game of the second set. I tried to concentrate again and focus in the first couple of games in the third set,” Nishikori said. “Everything worked well after that and I finished well.” Nishikori will face fourth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France in Sunday’s final. Benneteau beat second-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4.
Benneteau, who has a 0-9 record in ATP World Tour finals, will contest the title match at the Malaysian Open for the third straight year.
Nishikori has a 5-4 record in tour-level finals and is attempting to add to victories earlier this year in Memphis and Barcelona. He has a 2-1 lead over Benneteau in head-to-heads.
“Julien is definitely a tough player, especially on indoor courts,” Nishikori said. “He can be a really dangerous player.”

Murray struggles

In Schenzen, China, Andy Murray is one step away from ending his 15-month title drought after he fought from a set down to pip Juan Monaco in the semifinal of the Shenzen Open on Saturday.
Murray took an hour and 42 minutes to beat his Argentine opponent 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 and set up a title clash with Tommy Robredo in the Briton’s first final since winning the Wimbledon title in July 2013.
Spaniard Robredo beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
Murray, who needs a strong finish to his season to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, dropped the first set and was 3-3 when he reeled off nine straight games to surge ahead.
“He started the match well,” said Murray. “I was struggling a little bit with my timing. Obviously, the conditions were very hard today. But I feel good and I’m into my first final for a while.
“Hopefully it’ll be a good match. Robredo’s been playing some good tennis this year, so it’ll be tough. I’m enjoying myself here and winning always helps,” said Murray who underwent a back surgery last year.
Murray, who will need to move three spots up from his current 11th place in the Race to London to qualify for the eight-man finale, dropped just four points on serve in the third set while converting all three break points.
“It’s been a tough year for me. The first few months coming back from surgery were hard, then I lost a bit of confidence. But I’ve felt better the past few months and hopefully I can have a strong end to the season,” added Murray.