Top seed Marin Cilic has reached the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships semi-finals. Croatian Cilic dominated world No. 52 Ryan Harrison 6-2 6-0. USA's Harrison stood no chance against the world No. 5 in the Tokyo quarter-finals.
Cilic opened up a 3-1 lead after converting his first break point of the match. Harrison served out in the sixth game to reduce the deficit to 4-2. The No. 1 seed converted his second set point on Harrison's serve two games later to claim the opener.
Cilic quickly broke Harrison for a 2-0 second set lead. Two more breaks of serve in the fourth and sixth game helped Cilic book a comfortable straight set win.
Harrison had no game or break points during the entire set.
Cilic has continued his success against Harrison. The head-to-head record between the two now stands at 5-1 in Cilic's favor. Harrison's only win against Cilic came a year ago in Acapulco. Cilic also beat Harrison earlier this year at the Rome Masters.
Cilic plays Mannarino next
Cilic is now set to meet world No. 32 Adrian Mannarino in the Tokyo semi-finals. France's Mannarino saw off home-favorite Yuichi Sugita 6-2 6-4. Japanese Sugita had his chances but just couldn't realize them.
Sugita started the match with a 2-0 lead. Sugita then blew two game points in the following game to go 3-0 up. Mannarino ended up winning six straight games to claim the first set in style.
Sugita again got off to a good start, having taken a 3-1 lead at the beginning of the second set. Mannarino broke Sugita twice in a row to take a 4-3 lead but Sugita immediately broke back to make it 4-4. Mannarino then broke Sugita for the third game in a row to open up a 5-4 lead. Sugita blew four break point chances in the following game as Mannarino served out for the win.
Mannarino hit six aces and broke Sugita six times during the match. The Frenchman also saved 10-of-13 of Sugita's break point chances. The match came to an end after an hour and 51 minutes of action.
Mannarino now has a 2-1 head-to-head record against Sugita. Japan's Sugita beat Mannarino in the Antalya final to claim his maiden ATP title this past June.
Mannarino ended on the winning side at Wimbledon and Tokyo this week.
Mannarino hoping for an upset
Cilic and Mannarino will be clashing off for the second time when they meet in the Tokyo semi-finals. Previously, Cilic edged Mannarino in a three-setter at the Queen's Club in 2015. Top seed Cilic is the clear favorite to beat Mannarino and reach the final. It remains to be seen can Mannarino pull off an upset and stun Cilic on Saturday.