Grigor Dimitrov showed great sportsmanship to come to the aid of Kyle Edmund before moving into a semifinal against Nick Kyrgios, as Alex De Minaur continued his unexpected run on home soil at the Brisbane International.
Dimitrov jumped over the net and sprinted to check on Edmund when the Brit collapsed in agony with an injured ankle at 4-4 during the evening session in Brisbane on Friday.
The in-form defending champion helped Edmund back to his chair and consigned him to a 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 defeat following a short break while his opponent received treatment.
Dimitrov, who ended last year on a high note by winning the ATP Finals in London, saved two match points to beat John Millman in the Queenslander's home city on Thursday and the powerful Bulgarian will attempt to end another Australian's challenge when he faces Kyrgios on Saturday.
The top seed blasted down 12 aces, breaking once in the opening set and again in the decider to stay on course to retain his title with the Australian Open fast approaching.
Kyrgios again had to come from a set down to go through, accounting for Alexandr Dolgopolov 1-6 6-3 6-4.
The unpredictable third seed fought back to see off compatriot Matthew Ebden in the second round and also raised his game to get the better of Ukrainian Dolgopolov.
"As bad as it is to say, it's kind of like a tap. I can turn it on when I want to," said the Canberra native.
De Minaur reached his maiden ATP semi-final, following up a shock win over Milos Raonic by defeating Michael Mmoh 6-4 6-0 and will now face Ryan Harrison, who was leading 7-6 (8-6) 4-2 when Denis Istomin retired.
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