Second seed Stan Wawrinka is the first man through to the Brisbane International semifinals after surviving a hard-fought battle with unheralded Brit Kyle Edmund on Friday.
The Swiss three-time grand slam champion prevailed 6-7(2) 6-4 6-4 against the world No.51.
The Brit had not taken a set from the 31-year-old in their only prior encounter, in Shanghai last year, but started the stronger of the two on Pat Rafter Arena, serving for the opening set at 5-4.
He was broken for 5-5 but played a superior tiebreak against an errant Wawrinka to take the opening set before Wawrinka, making his Brisbane debut, began to raise his level.
Wawrinka slammed down 11 aces to two and looked in control after breaking Edmund’s serve to open the second set.
The 31-year-old closed it out with his semifinal opponent later decided when third seed Kei Nishikori ran away with a straight-sets winner over Australian Jordan Thompson.
Wawrinka holds a 4-3 head-to-head advantage over the Japanese player, including a win in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows en route to the US Open title last season.
He fell in their most recent meeting in the ATP World Tour Finals, however.
“We played each other a few times already last few months, so it’s going to be interesting to see,” Wawrinka said.
“We practised here this week. I’m sure it’s going to be a good match.”