By Chris Oddo | Wednesday January 1, 2018
2017 champion Grigor Dimitrov sailed into the quarterfinals at the Brisbane Internationalon Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Australia’s John Millman.
Dimitrov had to sweat it out at the finish after squandering a 4-1 lead in the second set, but the Bulgarian broke Millman for 5-4 and clinched the victory in the next game.
Next up Dimitrov will next face Kei Nishikori, the player he defeated in the 2017 final at Brisbane.
Nishikori continued his fast start to the season with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over American Denis Kudla. Nishikori has won four of five lifetime matches against Dimitrov, losing just the aforementioned 2017 final at Brisbane.
In other second-round action at Brisbane, third-seeded Kyle Edmund was upset by Yasatuka Uchimaya of Japan, 7-6(6), 6-4. The World No.186 earns his first Top 100 win and will face Jeremy Chardy next.
Chardy took out Nick Kyrgios 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3.
Kyrgios served flawlessly in the opening set, winning 25 of 25 points from his first serve, but he was broken three times in the final two sets by the 31-year-old Frenchman.