Tokyo: Defending champion Kei Nishikori survived a war of attrition against Croatia's Marin Cilic to reach the Japan Open semi-finals on Friday, winning a cliffhanger 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Top seed Stan Wawrinka overpowered American qualifier Austin Krajicek 6-3, 6-4 to join him in the last four, though the Swiss required less than an hour to take care of business on a sunny afternoon in Tokyo. Second seed Nishikori was greeted like a rock star by 12,000 screaming fans but Cilic, who beat Japan's golden boy in last year's US Open final, had failed to read the script and quickly seized the initiative with some thunderous hitting.