Kei Nishikori. Pic/AFP

Kei Nishikori battled past second seed Marin Cilic in Monte Carlo on Friday to reach his first Masters semi-final since July 2016. The 28-year-old only returned from a four-month spell on the sidelines with a right wrist injury in January, but continued his excellent run in Monaco by beating Cilic 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3. Nishikori, who lost his only Grand Slam final to Cilic at the 2014 US Open, moves into a last-four clash with either Richard Gasquet or Alexander Zverev.