Brandon Nakashima continued his red-hot pace on Friday, knocking out sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz 7-6 , 4-6, 6-3 to reach the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters semi-finals.Nakashima knocks out Fritz to reach Cincinnati semi-finalsThe American began his post-Wimbledon hardcourt run with a Washington semi-final, which he lost to Fritz, a run to the final in the Montreal Masters and now his best showing at Cincinnati all with the US Open start barely more than a week away.Nakashima withstood 22 aces from Fritz who also bashed 31 unforced errors.Nakashima trailed a break in the third set but broke back to knot it at 3-3 and broke again for a 5-3 lead.He out-hit the powerful Fritz and converted on his first match point with a forehand winner."I've gotten a lot of confidence over the summer," Nakashima said. "In the final set I trusted my game, I'm proud with how I ended the match."Today I was trying to hit bigger against him than in Washington, that's what got me through."I've had a pretty good last few weeks, I've spent hour and hours on the court - I'm proud of myself," he added. "I now have the opportunity to win more matches."Nakashima will face either Lorenzo Musetti or Arthur Fils for a place in the final.In the women's quarter-finals, Sara Bejlek backed up her stunning victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Madison Keys.The 20-year-old Czech got off to a slow start against the big-hitting American, a former Australian open champion and the 2019 winner in Cincinnati.Bejlek trailed 0-3 on the way to dropping the first set, but rode a wave of momentum shifts into the final four where she'll face either fourth-seeded Coco Gauff or Marta Kostyuk.Bejlek broke first in the third set only for Keys to battle back and force the tiebreaker, in which Bejlek rallied from 4-2 down on the way to a victory capped by a stinging winner down the line on match point."I just kept believing in the match no matter what," said Bejlek, who won the WTA title in Abu Dhabi in February as a wild card."I believed much more than ever, it was always in my head."After a solid first set the 24th-ranked Keys opened the second on sweltering Stadium Court with a break in the third game, but Bejlek, ranked 35th, broke back in the sixth and held for a 4-3 lead.Keys answered with a love game, but Bejlek turned the tables two games later, taking the contest into the third set as Keys hit the net with a backhand on the Czech's second set point."I was trying to cool down in the second set, I was pretty nervous so I didn't want to think about what was going on," Bejlek said.str/bbThis article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.