Kei Nishikori edges past Roberto Bautista Agut in Barcelona

Kei Nishikori has remained on course to defend his Barcelona Open title with a three-set victory over Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-finals.

The world number five looked in trouble when dropping the second set but he recovered to secure victory by a 6-2 3-6 6-1 scoreline.

The opening set was dominated by the Japanese star as he dropped just three points behind his serve as well as breaking his Spanish opponent on two occasions.

However, Bautista Agut settled during the second set and one break of serve was enough for the world number 16 to take the match into a decider.

Nishikori began the third strongly, and after establishing a 5-1 lead, he served out the match to secure a spot in the last four.