KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday.
Playing in his first tournament since reaching the U.S. Open final, Nishikori converted six of his 13 break points and fired eight aces to defeat Nieminen in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
"I had a couple of unforced errors in the last game of the second set. I tried to concentrate again and focus in the first couple of games in the third set," Nishikori said. "Everything worked well after that and I finished well."
Nishikori will face fourth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France in Sunday’s final. Benneteau beat second-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4.
Benneteau, who has a 0-9 record in ATP World Tour finals, will contest the title match at the Malaysian Open for the third straight year.
Nishikori has a 5-4 record in tour-level finals and is attempting to add to victories earlier this year in Memphis and Barcelona. He has a 2-1 lead over Benneteau in head-to-heads.
"Julien is definitely a tough player, especially on indoor courts," Nishikori said. "He can be a really dangerous player."