Tomic ousts second seed Nishikori in Brisbane

Australia’s Bernard Tomic hits a return against Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their men’s singles quarter-final match on the sixth day of the Brisbane International tennis tournament on 8 January – AFP 

AFP: Australia’s Bernard Tomic said his big improvement as a tennis player was on display during his three-set quarter-final win over Kei Nishikori at the Brisbane International on Friday.

Tomic delighted his home fans when he ousted the second-seeded Nishikori from Japan 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in a shade under two hours, putting him into a semi-final showdown against huge-serving Canadian Milos Raonic.

Tomic, who hails from the nearby Gold Coast, powered through the first set before Nishikori fought back to take the second.

But after both players struggled to hold serve at the start of the third, Tomic took control and eased away to claim the match.

The win came almost 12 months to the day after Nishikori thumped Tomic 6-0, 6-4 at the same stage of last year’s Brisbane tournament, and almost certainly assures Tomic a top 16 seeding for the Australian Open.