Nadal ousted in Brisbane, Gauff reaches Auckland semis

Rafael 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 semi-finals of the Auckland Classic on Friday as the US Open champion continued her impressive build-up to the first Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park.

Rain delayed the start of the match but once play began 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.

The world number three raced through the opening set and took a 4-0 lead in the second before Gracheva held serve, and with dark clouds gathering once again Gauff was quick to wrap up a victory which pits her against Emma Navarro in an all-American semi-final.

"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.

"I'm glad I was able to finish my match (before it could rain)."

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

In the WTA event in Brisbane world number two Aryna Sabalenka overcame Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4 to set up a semi-final with Victoria Azarenka.

Sabalenka stormed through the first set but faced a stiffer challenge in the second as Kasatkina raised her game.

Defending Australia Open champion Sabalenka fired 29 winners, compared to seven by her opponent, to snuff out Kasatkina's hopes of a comeback.

"It's hard there because you get to know each other better and better every time you play," Sabalenka, who now has a 6-2 head-to-head lead against Kasatkina, said of their rivalry.

She will meet Azarenka, who outlasted Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 for a place in the last four.

"With Jelena sometimes you just have to put on a helmet and try to stay in there," said Azarenka, who next faces Aryna Sabalenka or Daria Kasatkina.

"But she's an incredible player, we've seen that many times. She's a Grand Slam champion, she proved many times that she can beat anyone on any given day."

Elena Rybakina reached the last four after her opponent Anastasia Potapova retired through injury after losing the first set 6-1.

She will meet Linda Noskova, who beat Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-3.