Kei Nishikori of Japan pulled off another five-set thriller against Stan Wawrinka to advance to his first ever Grand Slam semifinals appearance at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows on Wednesday.

The 10th-seeded Nishikori won another epic battle, 3-6, 7-5, 7(9)-6(7), 6(5)-7(7), 6-4 in four hours and 15 minutes against Australian Open champion Wawrinka.

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The 29-year-old Swiss came out hot as he took the first set easily after a service break against Nishikori but the Japanese bounced back on the second set and edged out Wawrinka in the third set tie-breaker.

The third seeded Wawrinka gave it his all on the fourth as the set went into another tie-break and the Swiss came out on top 7-5.

It was a battle of energy reserves on the fifth and deciding set as both players hung onto their serves but Nishikori, 24, continued with his impressive service returns and baseline play to outlast Wawrinka to become the first Japanese man to enter the semis of a major tournament.

This is the first time that Nishikori has defeated Wawrinka and is now added to his collection of triumphs over top 10 seeded players which include Milos Raonic, whom he defeated at the quarterfinals Monday, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

The 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang is Nishikori's coach and is known for his five-set upsets of top seeded players including his only majors trophy at Roland Garros against six-time Grand Slam winner Stefan Edberg.

Chang, 42, has trained Nishikori before the tournament.

"I was doing a lot of training, but not tennis-wise," Nishikori said. "I start playing points a couple days ago before the tournament. I wasn't expecting big result like this."

Nishikori is set to face the winner of the other quarterfinals match between Djokovic and Andy Murray. He defeated Djokovic in 2011 at the semis of the Swiss Indoors in Basel but has not yet defeated Britain's No. 1 Murray.

The Djokovic-Murray matchup is scheduled to take place Wednesday evening at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York after the Serena Williams-Flavia Penetta clash.

TagsKei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka, Michael Chang, Milos Raonic, Novak Djokovic, andy murray