BRISBANE, Australia — US Open champion Stan Wawrinka will meet third-seeded Kei Nishikori in the semifinals of the Brisbane International.
Wawrinka dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker against unseeded Kyle Edmund on Friday but recovered for a 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 win, reaching the last four in his first trip to the Brisbane tournament.
In the previous three years, Wawrinka won the title in Chennai in the first week of the season before heading to Australia for the season's first major.
Nishikori has now reached the semifinals four times in six visits to the Brisbane International.
The 2014 US Open finalist needed just an hour for a 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Australian wildcard entry Jordan Thompson.
Thompson beat former top 10 regular David Ferrer in the second round but against Nishikori, he only managed to hold serve in the third game and in the fourth game of the second set.
Nishikori only made 11 unforced errors and didn't face a breakpoint.
Later Friday, defending champion Milos Raonic will meet 14-time Grand Slam title winner Rafael Nadal in a night quarterfinal, and fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem was playing No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov.
In the women's semifinals, French Open champion Garbine Muguruza retired with a right thigh injury while trailing Alize Cornet 4-1 in the first set. Cornet advanced to a final against either US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova or sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina, who ousted No. 1-ranked Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
Muguruza has had a run of injuries in the season-opening Brisbane tournament. She retired after a set in her opening match here last year and withdrew from the draw entirely in 2015.