The Spaniard, who also made the last four in 2010 and 2012, notched a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin at the Putra Stadium.
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“He (Dimitrov) is a great player, very talented”. I was a little jet-lagged, but that is no excuse as it was the same for him as well.
“I’m very happy because I’d never played so well at this tournament”.
Earlier this year, the MOKL second seed Lopez had edged Kyrgios in the first round of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome in May.
“It is tough to return after a long break, but I managed to overcome the jet lag and put on a good show today”, said the 34-year-old Lopez, ranked 17 in the world. The fact that Karlovic lost to me, once, it definitely helped me.
The 20-year-old Kyrgios will play second-seeded Feliciano Lopez, who needed two hours to beat eighth-seeded Vasek Pospisil 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2. “I will rest well and be ready for tomorrow”.
“I don’t think the third set was straight-forward but I think we are in the good level, I played ok”.
“I was struggling with my overall game because I need time to get back my rhythm at the beginning”. I tell them I am not done yet, I take it one year at a time.
The top seed went a service break down in the first set but quickly hit back and then forced two set points on Lopez’s serve, taking the first to close out a 38-minute set 7-5.
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In the men’s doubles, Australia’s Rameez Junaid/Jonathan Marray of Britian, Frantisek Cermak/Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic, Austria’s Philipp Oswald/Canada’s Adil Shamasdin, Treat Huey of Philippines/Henri Kontinen of Finland and Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky of United States of America advanced to the quarterfinals.
