Miami, April 1

Japan’s Kei Nishikori saved five match points to down Gael Monfils on Thursday and advanced into a semi-final showdown with Australian Nick Kyrgios at the ATP and WTA Miami Open.

Two-time Grand Slam champions Victoria Azarenka and Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the women’s final with straight-set triumphs, but the top drama came in sixth seed Nishikori’s 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over the French 16th seed. Nishikori denied Monfils four times in the 10th game of the final set and again in the 12th before taking the last three tie-breaker points to end a tension-packed thriller after two hours and 29 minutes.

Kyrgios ousted Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Kyrgios, at 20, will become the youngest player in the world top 20 since 2009 on Monday.

Azarenka, the champion from Belarus, defeated reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 7-5, while Russian 30-year-old Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open champion, beat Swiss 19th seed Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3.