Reigning US Open champion Stan Wawrinka was in impressive form as he saw off Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in straight sets to move into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International yesterday. In a high quality match, the Swiss world number four took just under 90 minutes to defeat Troicki 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Wawrinka, 31, has traditionally played in Chennai at this time of year but said he wanted to change his Australian Open preparations. Wawrinka will now take on unseeded Briton Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals of the season-opening event. Edmund progressed when French opponent Lucas Pouille was forced to retire hurt during their match with blisters on his right foot.
Earlier, a rusty Kei Nishikori survived a scare from qualifier Jared Donaldson. The third seeded Japanese lost the first set to the American, ranked 105, but recovered to take the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours, 25 minutes. Nishikori, who had a first round bye, looked out of sorts as he let early leads slip in the first two sets.
But once he got in front in the third he was able to keep control and book a last-eight place against Australian wildcard Jordan Thompson, who stunned eighth seed David Ferrer of Spain. Thompson reached an ATP quarter-final for the first time when he beat Ferrer 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to the delight of the big crowd at Pat Rafter Arena.

Kerber, Cibulkova
survive scares
Women’s world number one Angelique Kerber survived a big scare from Australian wildcard Ashleigh Barty to progress to the quarter-finals. The reigning Australian and US Open champion held on to beat the impressive Barty in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Barty, the 2011 junior Wimbledon champion, walked away from the sport at the end of 2014 and only returned for four tournaments in 2016. However, the 20-year-old from Brisbane is now back on the tour full-time and she showed local fans what they have been missing with a brave fight against Kerber, who set up a quarter-final against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Second seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova was also forced to dig deep before beating China’s Zhang Shuai 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. She now plays Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the quarter-finals, a player she lost to in their last two meetings. Two-time Grand Slam singles winner Svetlana Kuznetsova ended 16-year-old Australian qualifier Destanee Aiava’s run with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win, while Italian eighth seed Roberta Vinci looked equally at ease as she downed Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-2.