Former champion Marcos Baghdatis is favourite to make a second Sydney final when he takes on France's Julien Benneteau in Friday's semi-finals.
Baghdatis is a hugely popular figure in Sydney with many Cypriots in attendance and he could well be on course for a second title this week after knocking out top seed Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6(7), 6-4 in a thrilling late-night quarter-final.
"I played great today," Baghdatis said. "It was not such a good match yesterday but I spoke with my coach (Miles Maclagan) and he just said to go for it. So I went for it."
"I played some great tennis today. [I'm] happy the way I'm playing. It's a great victory for me. I know I can beat anybody. I've beaten the best before. I think if I continue working on this aggressive play and the way I played today, I'm going to win more matches and [beat] bigger opponents."
The win clearly meant a huge amount to Baghdatis who kissed the court twice after sealing victory but he'll have to re-focus quickly as the wily Benneteau is a very dangerous opponent.
The Frenchman has been quietly impressive all week long, knocking out fourth seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 and then seeing off Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 6-4 in the quarters.
Benneteau leads 3-2 on the head-to-head but Baghdatis won in straight sets when they met at the Australian Open a few years ago and with the majority of the crowd behind him it will be a surprise if he doesn't pull through.
