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Nishikori proves too creative for veteran Stepanek

Kei Nishikori is improving on grass © Getty Images

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Japanese starlet Kei Nishikori overcame Radek Stepanek to reach the AEGON International semi-finals on Thursday.

Nishikori is enjoying his best season on the ATP Tour to date, taking his 2011 win tally to 19 after he saw off Rainer Schuettler earlier in the day, and then returned to beat Stepanek. The 21-year-old dominated proceedings at Eastbourne, winning 6-2 6-3.

Stepanek had defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday, but he was a shadow of himself 24 hours later, only truly coming to the party when Nishikori served for the match. Stepanek kept his rival at deuce for a long spell, trying desperately to stay in the match, but after he sliced long in the point of the match, the Czech finally gave in.

This was the first meeting of the pair, and it was Nishikori who coped far better, breaking five times to two. He will now face James Ward's conqueror Janko Tipsarevic, who advanced to the last four courtesy of a 6-3 7-6(2) triumph over Grigor Dimitrov.

Andreas Seppi relied upon his serve to beat Olivier Rochus 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 to reach the other semi-final. The Italian fired 10 aces and evaded being broken throughout the match to book a place in the last four. Seppi will now face Igor Kunitsyn, after the Russian eased past Julien Benneteau 6-3 6-2.

At the UNICEF Open, big-serving Croatian Ivan Dodig continues to look strong, beating Teymuraz Gabashvili 2-6 6-1 6-2. Dodig recovered from a slow start to rifle down 16 aces in a convincing victory.

In the other semi-finals, Belgium's Xavier Malisse was stopped by rain when leading Alex Bogomolov Jnr 6-2 4-3, and the same fate befell Dmitry Tursunov, who will resume with three break points at a crucial stage of his match with Santiago Giraldo, which is currently poised at 6-3 4-6 4-4.

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