Troicki stays in hunt for 2nd straight Sydney Int'l

SYDNEY — Viktor Troicki won his rain-delayed quarterfinal at the Sydney International on Friday, and Australian Bernard Tomic retired from his match against Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili while trailing 6-3, 3-0.

Tomic said he was feeling ill and may have had food poisoning. He plays his first-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Third-seeded Troicki beat Nicolas Mahut 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and will play Gabashvili later on Friday for a spot in Saturday's final.

Fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov advanced with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal win over Alexandr Dolgopolov and will next play Gilles Muller, who beat sixth-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 (5), 6-3.

In the women's semifinals, Monica Puig advanced when Belinda Bencic retired after losing the first set 6-0.