Australian number one Bernard Tomic is through to his maiden ATP semi-final after posting a straight-sets win over Denis Istomin at the Brisbane International on Friday.
But the 19-year-old hardly appeared satisfied with his milestone as he booked a dream showdown with top seed Andy Murray.
Tomic's countdown to the year's first grand slam gained ominous momentum when he downed Uzbek Istomin 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in their quarter-final.
Tomic's rapid rise was put in perspective when he arrived at the Brisbane International as the eighth seed and world number 42.
Last year he relied on a wildcard to play due to his number 208 ranking.
Now Tomic looks set to soar to a career-high ranking in the 30s following his stellar run in Brisbane - and he could even gain a prized Australian Open seeding if he wins the tournament.
But the true gauge awaits on Saturday against world number four Murray, who earlier cruised into the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 thumping of doubles partner Marcos Baghdatis.
Tomic - the youngest player in the men's top 50 - had never progressed past the Brisbane International first round in three previous attempts.
But on Friday the Wimbledon quarter-finalist would have been forgiven for backing himself to at least make the final of his home tournament after finally providing Istomin a hit-out.
Remarkably, Istomin, 25, came into the quarter-finals without completing a match.
Florian Mayer had retired with a groin injury in the second set of their opening match and another German - veteran Tommy Haas - withdrew with a calf strain to give him a round-two walkover.
Tomic looked like a young man in a hurry from the outset, breaking Istomin in the fourth game to seal the first set in 31 minutes.
He had the crowd on its feet when he outlasted Istomin 7-4 in the tiebreaker to seal the match in 78 minutes.
French second seed Gilles Simon was the first man through to the last four when he eliminating Santiago Giraldo 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 on Thursday.
Simon will next take on Ukraine's world number 15 Alexandr Dolgopolov after the third seed outlasted former champion Radek Stepanek, the sixth-seeded Czech, in their quarter-final 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
AAP
Tags: tennis, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia First posted January 06, 2012 17:47:50
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