Kei Nishikori of Japan advances to Memphis final when Matosevic retires with bruised foot

Enlarge Image

Marinko Matosevic, of Australia, has his foot tended to by physiotherapist Graham Anderson, right, during a semifinal round tennis match against Kei Nishikori, of Japan, at the U.S. National Indoor Championships on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013, in Memphis, Tenn. Matosevic retired from the match because of injury. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Kei Nishikori tried walking past Marinko Matosevic, ready to switch ends after winning the first set 6-4. The Australian stopped him near the umpire's chair.

Matosevic (mat-OH-sev-ich) just couldn't play on, not with a bone bruise in his right foot making each step simply too painful.

Nishikori, from Japan, advanced to the final of the U.S. National Indoor Championships when Matosevic retired 37 minutes into their semifinal Saturday. Nishikori called the quick end surprising because he didn't know Matosevic was injured.

"He was playing really well from the beginning and he broke my serve in the beginning 2-love," Nishikori said. "He was playing well I thought. So I didn't think about he was retiring. Yeah, he's playing well this week. ... Things happen. But yeah, lucky for me to play just one set and feel fresh for tomorrow so I think it's good."

Nishikori will play Feliciano Lopez of Spain or Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan on Sunday looking for his third career title and first since winning in Tokyo last October. That's when he became the first Japanese player to win on home soil in that tournament's 40-year history.

Marina Erakovic of New Zealand plays Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the women's final on Saturday night.

This year, Nishikori beat Matosevic in the round of 32 in Brisbane in straight sets before losing the semifinal to Andy Murray. The top Asian in the ATP rankings at No. 22, No. 5 Nishikori was the only seed to advance out of the quarterfinals after he ousted top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia.

"It's a tough tournament here, so I understand anything happens," Nishikori said.

Matosevic had been having pain in his right foot since January. The pain reached a new level Friday night after the adrenaline from beating Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets in the quarterfinals. Matosevic iced his foot for a few hours and found even walking to a grocery store across from his hotel painful.

The Aussie, the ATP's most improved player in 2012 as he jumped from No. 201 in 2011 to 49th, still tried to play in only his third career ATP semifinal.

Matosevic took the doughnut-shaped pad protecting his foot off before the match. He even led 2-0 before Nishikori broke back, and the 23-year-old player broke Matosevic again to go up 4-3. Matosevic then called for a trainer, who doubled up the padding on the Aussie's right foot. That simply made it too awkward.

All on a day where the tennis ball looked as big as a basketball to the Aussie, and Matosevic felt good except when Nishikori forced him to move to his left or right chasing down volleys.

"It's a bittersweet moment right now," Matosevic said with a heavy sigh. "If you would've told me before the week I would make the semifinals, I'd take it. Today, the way I was seeing the ball and striking it, it's tough. I definitely felt like I could've won today, and then the bottom half, all the seeds dropping out, Istomin, Lopez, it feels like a big missed opportunity."

Nishikori served out and won the set in 37 minutes. Matosevic then retired. So Nishikori spent five more minutes hitting some balls just to get some more practice before facing either Lopez or Istomin.

"It's good that I 'm fresh," Nishikori said. "Either is going to be a tough match. I just need to be ready for tomorrow and play my best tennis.

Lopez advanced to the semifinals when No. 6 seed Tommy Haas withdrew because of illness before their match Thursday night, and the Spaniard beat wild card Jack Sock in the quarterfinals for his 300th career singles win. Lopez, whose last a semifinal was Beijing last October, is trying to reach his first final since May 2011.

Istomin, who is 0-2 against Lopez, has not dropped a set in Memphis. He beat No. 4 seed John Isner, Lleyton Hewitt and Michael Russell and is trying to reach his third career ATP final and first since losing to Milos Raonic in San Jose last year.