ATP Brisbane: Safiullin advances to semi-final against Rune

Russian Roman Safiullin reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane Open by beating Italian Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Friday.

Safiullin, ranked No 39, will next play Dane Holger Rune, the top seed, who defeated Australian qualifier James Duckworth in another quarter-final on Friday.

Ahead of his victory, the Russian defeated American Ben Shelton, the No 3 seed (6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3) and edged out Australian Alexei Popyrin (6-7 (9), 6-4, 7-6 (3)).

Arnaldi, ranked No 44, edged out Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (7)) and Slovak qualifier Lukas Klein (6-4, 3-6, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the Brisbane tournament.

Brisbane ATP 250, Other Quarter-Final matches (Queensland Tennis Centre, USD 661,585)

• Holger Rune beat James Duckworth 6-2, 7-6
• Rafael Nadal vs. Jordan Thompson
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Grigor Dimitrov