Nishikori, Dimitrov set to meet in Brisbane quarterfinals

Kontaveit advance in quarters

January 03, 2019 00:00:00

Estonia's Anett Kontaveit celebrating after beating the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova in their women's singles second round match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane on Wednesday — AFP

AUSTRALIA, Jan 02 (AP): Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov had straight-sets wins Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International, where they'll meet in a rematch of the 2017 final.

Second-seeded Nishikori broke at love in the 11th game to seize momentum in a 7-5, 6-2 win over Denis Kudla in the second round, his season-opening match after getting a first-round bye in Brisbane.

Sixth-seeded Dimitrov, who beat Nishikori for the first time here in the 2017 title match, had to withstand a late comeback from local favorite John Millman before winning 6-3, 6-4. He had three points for a 5-1 lead in the second set but was broken as Millman went on a roll before Dimitrov regained control.

Dimitrov said he was distracted for a while despite being up two breaks but "I was not worried to the extent that I was panicking."

Meanwhile, Anett Kontaveit beat fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova 7-5, 7-6 (1) to advance to the women's quarterfinals, and Anastasija Sevastova set up a match against U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka when she beat Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-0.

Fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova had a 7-5, 6-2 win over Marie Bouzkova, Ajla Tomljanovic beat Johanna Konta 6-2, 7-6 (2), and Donna Vekic ousted No. 6 Kiki Bertens 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-5.