Nadal, Murray, Kyrgios, Svitolina Out Of Brisbane; Dimitrov Advances To Nishikori Showdown

Top draws Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray both exited the Brisbane tour event on Wednesday. Nadal withdrew due to a left thigh injury while Murray fell in a second round match to No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2.

“I think he served extremely well, didn’t really get many chances on his service games,” said Murray who lost six straight games to go down 4-0 in the second. “And then on my own service games I made a few too many errors in the rallies, especially early on I was trying to play a little bit more offensive. In the second set, I made a few too many mistakes, and obviously there was a period in the match from 5-5 where I lost six games in a row.

“I think when you obviously play better players… they will expose any errors that you make in your game or any shots that you’re not hitting particularly well. And he did that tonight.”

The 240th-ranked Murray, who only played two matches this week, could still take a wildcard into an event next week, either at an exo or at Sydney or Auckland.

Elsewhere, Grigor Dimitrov rolled over John Millman 6-3, 6-4. Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori were also winners as was young Australian Alex De Minaur who ousted countryman Jordan Thompson. Following a 44-ace performance in the first round, Nick Kyrgios couldn’t get past Jeremy Chardy in the second, falling in three sets.

“It was a tough match. Nick is an amazing player, he served amazing. Today I played really solid, I’m really happy with the win. Sorry for Nick, he’s my friend outside the court. It’s always difficult to play against someone you like,” Chardy said.

Nishikori and Dimitrov will collide on Thursday.

In the women’s draw, top seed and defending champion Elina Svitolina tumbled out to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

“It was a really tough match. From my perspective, the first set was really good but the second not so good,” Sasnovich said.

After her win over Sloane Stephens, Johanna Konta fell to Ajla Tomljanovic. Seeds Petra Kvitova and Kiki Bertens also lost.

THURSDAY BRISBANE SCHEDULE
Pat Rafter Arena 11:00 Am
2nd Rd(LL)Taro Daniel v (PR)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Not Before 1:00 Pm
QF Jeremy Chardy v (Q)Yasutaka Uchiyama
Not Before 3:00 Pm
QF 8 Anastasija Sevastova v 2 Naomi Osaka
Not Before 7:00 Pm
QF 6 Grigor Dimitrov v 2 Kei Nishikori
Not Before 8:30 Pm
QF Lesia Tsurenko v Anett Kontaveit

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