Kei Nishikori reaches Malaysian Open final

Kuala Lumpur: Top seed Kei Nishikori fought to beat Finland`s Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday to make it into his first Malaysian Open final.

The Japanese hotshot will now face France`s fourth seeded Julien Benneteau, who continued his sterling run in the competition with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of second seed Ernests Gulbis.

Nishikori, who drew a 5,000 sell-out crowd at the Putra Stadium in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, put in a commanding show for most of the game`s 137 minutes.

Using his trademark baseline power-play to rack quick-points, he surged to a 3-1 lead after initial resistance from the world number 57 before holding the advantage with a 6-3 victory.

The world number eight couldn`t keep up the tempo in the second, as Nieminen began to read his game to take a 3-1 lead, before Nishikori level pegged at 3-3.

The rally of the tournament saw both players exchange almost 20 returns, which the Finn won to eventually level at 6-4 and take the tie into the decider.

Cheered on by the majority of supporters -- many of them young women who gushed over Nishikori`s boyish looks -- the 24-year-old snapped back into action as he dictated play with a variation of winners, including one sublime backhand volley which paved the way to a 6-2 victory.

Nishikori, who in the recent US Open became the first Asian man to make a Grand Slam singles final, may not have an easy battle in the Malaysian Open final as he comes up against nine-time singles finalist Benneteau.

The world`s 28th ranked player defeated Latvia`s Gulbis, who ranks 13th, courtesy of some phenomenal court coverage and work-rate of the highest level.

The 2012 and 2013 runner-up of the Malaysian Open is determined to break the jinx.

"You never expect an easy match against the top 20, and today it played in my favour," he said.

"Nishikori is a great player, he`s fast... I have to find a way to beat him tomorrow."