Saturday 8 August 2015 12:13, UK
Reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic and 2014 US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Washington Open with straight-set triumphs on Thursday.
Japanese second-seed Nishikori, the highest-ranked player in the field after Great Britain's Andy Murray crashed out in his opening match, never faced a break point in dispatching Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-4, after 92 minutes.
"I'm very confident and I'm feeling really good," Nishikori said.
Croatian third seed Cilic, who faced a possible rematch with Nishikori in the semi-finals, outfought 32nd-ranked American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3) at the US Open hardcourt warm-up event.
In the WTA tournament, women's top seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia also reached the last eight, defeating Britain's Naomi Broady 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). She next plays Romanian sixth seed Irina-Camelia Begu.
Nishikori, who seeks his third title of the year after Memphis and Barcelona and the 10th of his career, silenced speculation in Japan he might be becoming a father, saying: "I hope one day, but not yet."
Fifth-ranked Nishikori broke Mayer for a 4-3 edge and held twice more to take the first set in 59 minutes, then broke again in the penultimate game of the match when the South American netted a forehand volley after having saved two other break points.
"He was returning well. That's why I could only break him twice," Nishikori said.
Nishikori also won both prior meetings with Mayer at Grand Slams without dropping a set, in the second round at Wimbledon in 2013 and last year in the third round at Flushing Meadows.
The 25-year-old Asian number one will next face Australia's Sam Groth, who fired 20 aces to defeat Spanish seventh seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 in 59 minutes.
"I'm going to have to serve well, make him feel uncomfortable. I'm going to have to attack the net and move well," Groth said. "I'm going to play my style. I have nothing to lose."
The two have never met before, although Groth - ranked a career-best 62nd - will get some pointers thanks to a shared coach with Nishikori's second-round victim, Aussie James Duckworth, and Nishikori has seen the big server in action.
"Never easy to play big servers," Nishikori said. "But I'm returning well. I'll concentrate on serving well and try to take advantage of my small chances."
Cilic, who raced to 6-1 leads in both tie-breakers, improved to 4-0 all-time against Querrey, their prior match-up a 2012 Wimbledon epic third-rounder Cilic won 17-15 in the fifth set.
Blocking Cilic's path to his second semi-final of the year is Germany's Alexander Zverev, who rallied past Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
In other women's matches, Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ousted Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-4 to book a quarter-final date with American Christina McHale, who won seven of the last nine games to outlast Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.
