Kei Nishikori is the first to admit he’s a lot handier on the court than on the barbecue.
The world No.5 figured he had less chance of overcooking a forehand than the prawns on Thursday, and with a group of hungry young mouths waiting on the spoils, he obligingly handed over the utensils as the flames went up.
Kabuki Teppanyaki Restaurant chef Alfie Lam and Stamford Plaza hotel executive chef Udaysen Mohite guided Nishikori through the Japanese-Australian teppanyaki barbecue demonstration at the Queensland Tennis Centre before the tournament’s No.3 seed sampled the seafood.
“I love seafood, I love meat. Yeah, especially prawns,” Nishikori said.
The three-time Brisbane International semifinalist’s next assignment will be on court when he faces Australian wildcard Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Thompson’s career-best win sealed on the right side of a 39-shot rally on Wednesday night had a parochial crowd in a frenzy across the grounds at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old will have the chance to top his upset of former world No.3 David Ferrer when he goes into battle with Nishikori. Sydneysider Thompson was a Rio Olympian in 2016 and claimed four Challenger level titles to finish the season ranked No.79.
Nishikori secured the Olympic singles bronze medal for Japan in Rio with his defeat of Rafael Nadal and went on to reach his second grand slam semifinal at Flushing Meadows, with an upset of Andy Murray. It came on top of his fourth Memphis title. The two have never faced off.
After nine years starting his season in Chennai, three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka made his Brisbane International debut on Wednesday night with an impressive result against big-hitting Serb, Viktor Troicki. The 31-year-old Swiss will take on surprise quarterfinalist Kyle Edmund, who advanced to the last eight when sixth seed Lucas Pouille withdrew mid-match due to a foot injury. Wawrinka took down the Brit once before, with a comfortable straight-sets dismissal in Shanghai last season.
Frenchwoman Alize Cornet almost let it slip away when she stuttered with the finish line in sight against No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova in the first women’s singles quarterfinal on Thursday. The unseeded 26-year-old needed to serve for the match three times before securing her first WTA Premier Level semifinal in nearly three years.
Fourth-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza is next. The French Open champion has had arguably the toughest route so far, having battling more than six hours total to get past former US Open champion Sam Stosur and rising Russian Daria Kasatkina before her defeat of dual slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday. The Spaniard has claimed both prior encounters.
Fourth seed Dominic Thiem will look to reach his second straight Brisbane International semifinal when he takes on former finalist, seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov, on Show Court 1. In the battle of the single-handed backhands it is Thiem who leads the pair’s head-to-head series 1-0 after a win in Acapulco last year.
Dylan Alcott – last year’s Newcombe Medallist and dual Rio Olympic gold medallist – headlines the wheelchair tennis event, which begins on Friday. Alcott’s Olympic doubles teammate, Heath Davidson will also be in action, as well as British wheelchair No.1 Andy Lapthorne.
Tickets to all sessions are on sale now via Ticketek.