The Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has defeated German Florian Mayer in straight sets to power into the quarter-finals of the Sydney International.
In his first success in four starts against Mayer, Tomic won 7-6 6-2 in 65 minutes to continue his unbeaten summer and book a date with defending champion Jarkko Nieminen.
With American top seed John Isner, the world number 13 crashing out of the event, Tomic is now a warm favourite to claim his maiden ATP Tour title in Sydney.
Fellow American Ryan Harrison eliminated a wounded Isner 6-4 6-4 in their second-round match before Isner revealed he may have to withdraw from next week's Australian Open due to a knee injury.
The 68th-ranked Harrison prevailed in one hour and 11 minutes against Isner, who had been promoted to top seed after the withdrawals of French pair Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet.
