Nishioka Records Breakthrough Semi In Atlanta

#NextGen star Yoshihito Nishioka reached his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final on Friday at the BB&T Atlanta Open, recording his most convincing win of the week over Horacio Zeballos, 6-4, 6-4.

Nishioka opened the match by breaking Zeballos and held his slight lead throughout the rest of the set. The 20-year-old baseliner dropped just three points on serve in the opening set and denied his Argentine opponent any break point chances.

The second set was identical to the first, with Nishioka breaking his opponent to love in the opening game and only dropping three points on serve to take the match.

Nishioka, No. 97 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, cracked the Top 100 last month after winning the ATP Challenger Tour event in Winnetka, Illinois. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Memphis Open in February.

Next up for the Japanese star is the winner of the match between second seed Nick Kyrgios and fifth seed Fernando Verdasco.