Intro:

Kei Nishikori beat Marin Cilic and Leyton Hewitt beat Marius Copil on Friday, both advance to the semi finals of the Brisbane International.

Script:

Second-seed Kei Nishikori of Japan became the first player to advance to the semi finals of the Brisbane International on Friday.

Nishikori beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Cilic's lack of competitive playing time showed early on, in what was only his his second tournament following a four-month doping ban. 17 unforced errors handed Nishikori the first set.

Cilic did manage to level the scores after taking the second set, but he was unable to retain that momentum in the third with Nishikori proving too strong as he served out the set, booking a place in the last four.

The 24-year-old will face Australian Leyton Hewitt after he knocked out Marius Copil in their quarter-final clash.

Hewitt got off to a flying start and was rarely troubled in the first set.

6-4 was the outcome after just 36 minutes on court.

The 32-year-old made even lighter work of the second set as he served out the match in straight sets for a -4, 6-2 win.

Nishikori and Hewitt go head to head for a place in the final on Saturday.