John Millman has gone down swinging to Benoit Paire in a tight quarter-final in Auckland’s Australian Open lead-up event.

Millman, elevated to Australia’s No.2 two male hope at the Open after Alex de Minaur’s withdrawal, lost 3-6 6-1 6-4 on Thursday night in 1 hour 43 minutes.

The likeable Queenslander will now head home to re-focus for his Melbourne Park campaign, where he faces fellow Auckland Classic competitor Ugo Humbert in the first round.

Big-serving American John Isner defeated Kyle Edmund in two tiebreak sets to join in Paire the last four.

Isner will face Humbert in the semi-finals after the 21-year-old Frenchman produced an upset win over second seed Denis Shapovalov earlier on Thursday.

AAP