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Japanese qualifier Kei Nishikori advanced to his first ATP semifinal on Friday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over American Bobby Reynolds in the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Florida. He is the first qualifier to reach the semifinals in Delray since Robert Kendrick in 2003.

The 18-year-old Nishikori jumped out to an early lead and was in control of the 65-minute match. He converted four of nine break points and saved two of three break points on his serve. In the opening set, he broke twice and went up 3-2 with a break in the second set. He lost serve in the next game before breaking again for a 4-3 advantage. He then held his last two service games to reach his first ATP semifinal in only his sixth career tournament.

"I played well in the first and second rounds and I grew in confidence. I as relaxed," said Nishirkori. "I love the jumping backhand stroke, like Marcelo Rios."

Last summer he reached the quarterfinals (l. to eventual champion Dmitry Tursunov) in his second ATP tournament in Indianapolis. He compiled a 3-5 record in ATP play last year.

Nishikori, who came into Delray Beach No. 244 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, moved to Florida at 14 years old to train at the Bollettieri Academy. He will climb to around No. 175 by reaching the semis and around No. 146 if he gets to the final.

Nishikori is the first Japanese player to reach an ATP semifinal since Shuzo Matsuoka in Beijing on Oct. 21, 1995. Matsuoka is also the last Japanese finalist and champion of an ATP tournament. He reached the final at Queen's on June 14, 1992 and won Seoul on Apr. 26, 1992.

He will face No. 3 seed Sam Querrey in the semifinals. The 20-year-old American advanced to his second career ATP semifinal with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 6 Vincent Spadea. Querrey fired 10 aces and never faced a break point in the 58-minute match. He converted three of five break points.

Top seed and last year's finalist James Blake (pictured) broke Russian Igor Kunitsyn six times en route to a 6-2, 6-4 victory in one hour and 19 minutes. Blake converted six of 13 break points and saved seven of 10 break points on his serve. He improved his match record to 8-2 on the season. Blake will take a 3-2 career advantage into the semifinals against countryman and friend Robby Ginepri. Blake won their last meeting in the third round at the '07 Australian Open in straight sets.

Wild card Ginepri improved his career record to 3-1 against No. 8 seed and countryman Mardy Fish with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory in one hour and 45 minutes. Ginepri led 4-1 in the third set but Fish broke in the seventh game. They were on serve until Ginepri broke in the 10th game.

"It's tough when you don't have a lot of matches under your belt and especially trying to close out matches like this but it's great that I pulled it out," said Ginepri, who is trying to become the first wild card to reach the Delray final since Xavier Malisse in 1999 (l. to Hewitt).

The No. 169th-ranked Ginepri converted five of 12 break points and saved three of five break points on his serve. He also won 58% of second serve points compared to Fish's 46%. Ginepri is the first wild card to reach the semifinals in Delray Beach since Marcelo Rios in 2003. Ironically, it was Fish who knocked out Rios in the semifinals.

Ginepri advanced to his first ATP semifinal since July 2006 in Indianapolis (l. to Roddick) and he will attempt to reach his first final since winning his second career ATP title in Indy the previous year.

ATP Tournament Profile | Delray Beach TV Schedule

Thursday: Six Americans Advance to Quarterfinals
Wednesday: Blake, Querrey, Spadea Advance in Straight Sets
Tuesday: Fish, Mirnyi Secure Wins on Rainy Day in Delray
Monday: Haas, Malisse Upset in First Round