Brisbane International: Grigor Dimitrov beats Kyle Edmund to set up semi-final clash with Nick Kyrgios

WORLD No.3 Grigor Dimitrov has taken the long way round to his Brisbane International showdown on Saturday with Nick Kyrgios by clinching a second three-set win.

Grigor Dimitrov on his way to beating Kyle Edmund at the Brisbane International on Friday night.

WORLD No.3 Grigor Dimitrov has taken the long way round to his Brisbane International showdown on Saturday with Nick Kyrgios by clinching a second three-set win.

Dimitrov reached his third Pat Rafter Arena final in six years with a 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 win win over a shaken Kyle Edmund of Britain on Friday night.

The super-fit Dimitrov had been hoping to save some petrol after the exertions of his three-set win over Brisbane’s John Millman which had finished at 12.26am earlier in the day.

Edmund, ranked no.50, crashed heavily to the court with a cry of pain at 4-all in the third set, prompting Dimitrov to hurdle the net and sprint to his aid.

Edmund had a medical timeout and was able to complete the last two games of the 2hr25min quarter-final.

“It’s very unfortunate what happened_ I’ve seen this too many times,’’ defending champion Dimitrov said.

Grigor Dimitrov on his way to beating Kyle Edmund at the Brisbane International on Friday night.

“I know the feeling. I really hope he gets better. I knew the last two games he wasn’t at his best so I just had to find a way (to win) again.’’

In a semi-final between the last two men’s seeds in the tournament, defending champion Dimitrov will measure his early-season form off against Kyrgios, who he rated last week as a likely top-10 player this year.

Dimitrov was too strong for Kyrgios in the Australian’s first ATP-1000 Masters Series final, in Cincinnati in August, the first Masters championship match between two men born in the 1990s.

“Grigor is obviously one of the best talents in the world at the moment,’’ Kyrgios said.

“It’s good to see him back. He had a rough year (in 2016) and then last year he had an amazing year and finished very strong.

Grigor Dimitrov rushes to the aid of his opponent Kyle Edmund.

“In Cincinnati, I thought he was just physically the fresher of us and he played really well that day.’’

Dimitrov, who will not be fresher in today’s semi-final, lost his 2013 Rafter Arena final to Andy Murray and then accounted for Kei Nishikori in last year’s final.

“I got to bed this morning at 3.15am and woke up at 12.30 and felt great,’’ he said.

“I watched a little bit of his match and he (Kyrgios) seems to be hitting the ball well again. It will be an entertaining match.’’

Originally published as Brisbane International: Grigor Dimitrov beats Kyle Edmund to set up semi-final clash with Nick Kyrgios