Australia’s John Millman has stormed into the last eight at the ATP Tour’s Japan Open in Tokyo with a 6-3 6-3 victory over unseeded South African Lloyd Harris.
Millman exacted a measure of revenge for compatriot Alex de Minaur, who lost to the world No.99 in the opening round, by needing little more than an hour to advance to the quarter-finals.
Although Harris recorded nine aces, Millman, the world No.80, was more effective on his second serve and was in control throughout Thursday’s match.
“I really wanted to reduce those unforced errors, make Lloyd have to work for every single point and try to neutralise that serve, because we know it’s a cannon,” Millman said.
However, fellow Australian Jordan Thompson was bundled out in straight sets by local favourite Taro Daniel, 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
The Japanese wildcard, who eliminated second seed Borna Coric in the opening round, capitalised on Thompson’s crippling 36 unforced errors to book a clash with Millman.
Meanwhile, Belgium’s David Goffin edged past Denis Shapovalov 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-2) to reach the quarter-finals.
Both players failed to convert a break point, with Goffin withstanding 10 aces from his Canadian opponent in a tense encounter which lasted nearly two hours.
But Goffin won six of the first seven points in the first-set tiebreak and the first six points of the second-set tiebreak to gain unassailable leads against Shapovalov.
Third seed Goffin, the 2017 Tokyo champion, has reached his seventh Tour-level quarter-final of the season and will meet South Korea’s Chung Hyeon.
Chung fired 11 aces and won 90 per cent of his first-serve points to overcome Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-4 3-6 6-1.
The 23-year-old denied Cilic his 500th tour-level win in the process.