Nadal stunned by Thompson in Brisbane, Gauff reaches Auckland semis

BRISBANE :Rafa Nadal's Australian Open preparations suffered a blow when the Spaniard suffered a shock defeat by Jordan Thompson in the Brisbane International quarter-finals on Friday.

Local favourite Thompson saved three match points before prevailing 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 against Nadal, who was playing his first tournament after nearly a year out with a hip injury.

Having won the opener and leading 6-4 in the second-set tiebreak, Nadal was on the verge of victory before Thompson staged a remarkable comeback and went on to win in nearly three- and-half hours.

Thompson broke 37-year-old Nadal in the fourth game of the final set and was 4-1 up when the Spaniard left the court on a medical timeout.

Nadal, a 22-times Grand Slam champion, did return but could not stop Thompson, who faces Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals.

"To beat Rafa in Brisbane in quarter-finals, I think this is my first semi-finals on a hard court as well," Thompson said. "I could not be happier."

Second seed Dimitrov beat Rinky Hijikata 6-1 6-4.

Coco Gauff swept aside Varvara Gracheva 6-1 6-1 to reach the Auckland Classic semi-finals as the U.S. Open champion continued her impressive buildup to the first Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park.

Rain delayed the start of the match but Gauff needed only 53 minutes to see off her French rival. The 19-year-old has not dropped a set in her title defence and did not face a single break point on Friday.

"I was focusing on playing my game," Gauff said.

"I thought I served really well, probably the best so far in the tournament, which is something I've been working on off-season. I'm really happy with how I played."

Second seed Elina Svitolina swept aside Marie Bouzkova 6-0 6-3 in another quarter-final.

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