Stan Wawrinka settled into his game in time to reach the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp on Friday. The second seed withstood some aggressive play and strong hitting from World No. 45 Kyle Edmund to advance 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 36 minutes.
Edmund rolled through the tie-break, blasting an inside-out backhand to go up 5/0. But Wawrinka broke the Brit at 3-2 in the second set and to start the third set. The Swiss star saved 11/13 break points faced.
“I want to win more matches here and not stop now,” said Wawrinka, who is looking to win a title in the first week of the season for a fourth consecutive year, following a hat-trick of titles in Chennai. “Today was a tough one, but I’m really happy to get through and have a chance to win and play the semi-final tomorrow.”
Wawrinka, who's making his Brisbane debut, will next face third seed Kei Nishikori, who defeated David Ferrer’s conqueror, Aussie wild card Jordan Thompson, 6-1, 6-1 in 62 minutes. Nishikori, who won 18 of his 19 first service points, also reached the semi-finals in 2013-15.
”I know it's going to be a tough match,” said Wawrinka. “We always play really tough matches. I beat him at the US Open. I lost at the ATP Finals quite easy. Also I lost in a tough Toronto semi-final. We practised here this week. I'm sure it's going to be a good match.”
Wawrinka leads Nishikori 4-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, although Nishikori beat Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 at The O2 in London in November.
”It’s going to be a tough one, for sure,” said Nishikori. “We played in London a couple of months ago. He’s a top player and I'm expecting another tough match tomorrow.”
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