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MELBOURNE. – Marin Cilic advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open tennis tournament yesterday after top seed Rafael Nadal retired hurt when trailing 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2, 2-0 in their match at the Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal took a medical time-out late in the fourth set for treatment on an apparent hip injury and was clearly struggling as he battled on in the evening match. After being broken to fall behind 2-0 in the fifth, Nadal called it quits and shook hands ruefully with the chair umpire and Cilic. Sixth seed Cilic will meet Briton Kyle Edmund for a place in the final.

Edmund became only the sixth British man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final with an upset win over world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open yesterday. The unseeded Edmund, ranked 49, won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena and will face Cilic for a place in the final.

With another British Grand Slam semi-finalist Tim Henman watching on in the stands, 23-year-old Edmund troubled Dimitrov with his powerful forehand and serve.

“It’s an amazing feeling, very happy with these sort of things, you are so emotionally engaged that you don’t really take it in, you don’t really enjoy yourself,” Edmund said.

“It was my first match on Rod Laver Arena and it is very special.” Edmund is the only British man in this year’s field after five-time finalist Andy Murray’s injury withdrawal before the tournament.

“I know what it feels like to be Andy Murray for the last eight years or however long,” Edmund said of the expected media attention after his win.

“Yeah, of course, it comes with the territory of playing the sport. The better you do, the more attention you get.

“It’s probably the first time I’ve done well on my own. So it is more attention there, but of course you just take it in your stride, trying to embrace it as much as possible.”

The only other British men to get so far at a Slam in the Open-era were Henman, Murray, John Lloyd, Roger Taylor and Greg Rusedski.

Edmund, who upset US Open finalist Kevin Anderson in the opening round, broke Dimitrov’s serve five times and hit 46 winners and 48 unforced errors. – AFP.