Second seed Kei Nishikori is out of the Miami Open at the quarter-final stage following a straight-sets defeat to Fabio Fognini this evening.
The favourite was carrying an injury and was unable to find any real rhythm to his game, falling to a 6-4 6-2 loss to the world number 40 in just 68 minutes.
Fognini broke his opponent's serve in the fourth game of the contest but was unable to fully hold on, seeing a 4-1 advantage reduced to 5-4 in the Florida heat.
That proved to be a temporary respite for Nishikori, however, as the Italian broke again in what proved to be the final game, successfully taking his second set point to edge ahead.
Nishikori continued to struggle in the second set, losing serve three times and eventually succumbing to a surprise defeat, meaning a semi-final meeting with either Jack Sock or Rafael Nadal for Fognini.
