Former finalist Grigor Dimitrov has held off a resurgent Dominic Thiem to book his place in the Brisbane International semifinals on Friday.
The seventh-seeded Bulgarian pulled off a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory over the No.4 seed, avenging a defeat to the 23-year-old Austrian from the Acapulco quarterfinals last year.
“It was a good match, I expected to play a good match. Thiem is one of the contenders in any tournament,” Dimitrov said.
“I thought I could have done a few things better but a win is a win. I’m just happy with my performance so far.
“I thought I was coming in to the net a lot in the first set and second and third I slowed down a bit.
“Next match I need to focus on myself and for sure serve a higher percentage of first serves.”
Dimitrov awaits the winner of Friday night’s fourth men’s quarterfinal between top seed and defending champion Milos Raonic and former world No.1 Rafael Nadal.
“Either one is not going to be an easy match,” Dimitrov said. “Rafa is Rafa and he’s is playing good tennis again. Milos is playing really well recently, serving really big.”