Kei Nishikori will return to professional tennis in January, but not at the season’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne.

Nishikori has withdrawn from the Australian Open, but the former World No. 4 is planning on launching his comeback at the inaugural ATP Challenger Tour event at the Newport Beach Tennis Club in Newport Beach, U.S.A, to be held 20-28 January.

The tournament is part of the inaugural Oracle Challenger Series, which also will include a Challenger event from 24 February – 4 March in Indian Wells, in the lead up to the BNP Paribas Open, the season’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. Both tournaments will feature $150,000 prize money.

“I am very excited and looking forward to getting back on the court in January,” Nishikori said. “The Oracle Challenger Series is a perfect event in a great Southern California location to help me get some match play. This will be a great opportunity to face some high-level competition.”

The 28-year-old Nishikori also plans to compete at the $125,000 Challenger in Dallas, U.S.A. The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas will take place from 29 January – 4 February.

Nishikori, 28, hasn’t played since 9 August, when he fell to Gael Monfils at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. The Japanese star had to cut short his 2017 season because of an injury to his right wrist. He is currently No. 22 in the ATP Rankings.

World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov kept hopes of retaining his Brisbane International presented by Suncorp title alive by saving two match points on his way to a 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-3 win over John Millman on Thursday night.

The Bulgarian star saved match point at 5/6 and 6/7 in the second-set tie-break en route to extending his winning streak to six matches, which includes a title-run at the Nitto ATP Finals in November 2017. Dimitrov, reflecting on the two points, complimented Millman’s level while expressing delight at his great, instinctive play.

“He couldn’t have played the ball better,” said Dimitrov. “But also, at the same time, I thought I couldn’t have done anything else besides what I did. I think two of the shots in the first match point were pure instinct for me. So I’m pleased with it.”

Dimitrov, who has now reached the quarter-finals five times on his six appearances at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament beat World No. 128 Millman over two hours and 38 minutes. He will next play Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals on Friday.

The reigning champion, well aware of how close he came to a season-opening defeat, was quick to praise Millman who twice found himself just one point away from defeating his first Top 10 opponent in the ATP Rankings.

“I’ve seen him play quite a few times out here, playing really aggressive, striking the ball amazing, and it was no less tonight,” said Dimitrov. “I’m the winner today but he put himself in that position to win the match.

“I’m just very pleased [with] the way I played on those key points and especially on the match points. So I think that gives me a certain amount of confidence coming into any other match that I have to play now.”

After exchanging early breaks in the first set, Millman’s continued pressure on the Dimitrov serve paid off at the tail-end of the opener. The 28-year-old managed to win almost half of all points (23/48) on the Bulgarian’s serve and in the 10th game, a second breakthrough came for Millman who took the set 6-4.

A dramatic second set followed with both men breaking serve before reaching a tie-break and it was there that Millman manufactured two match points for the biggest win of his career. But the four-time 2017 titlist on the ATP World Tour was not to be denied, saving the first in an epic rally at the net and a second with an aggressive forehand into the corner. But Millman had no regrets on his strategy, complimenting his rival’s level for the epic match point save.

“I went for a body serve. Maybe I should have gone for an ace. Who knows? Hindsight is a great thing,” said Millman.“I made him play five, six backhands, then he’s come in and he’s played a volley that’s taken out nearly both lines. I managed to get him to play another volley, and he played another volley back the other way. What else can I do on that point?”

Dimitrov would later convert his second set point to win the tie-break and level the match. From that point, the 26-year-old motored through the decider with a break in the fourth game and a near-perfect performance on points behind his first serve (17/18). An emotional Millman reflected on what might have been, had either of the two points gone differently, and what it would have meant for his career.

“I gave it everything,” said Millman. “I can be proud of giving it everything. That’s tennis. You win some, you lose some. It would have really been one of the most special nights of my career if I had won against a player like Grigor in front of my home crowd, who stuck it out well past midnight to watch me play. It would have been one of the highlights of my career.”

Now unbeaten in six matches, Dimitrov will attempt to keep that streak alive in his quarter-final match against Kyle Edmund. The British No. 2 defeated #NextGenATP champion Hyeon Chung 7-6(3), 5-7 6-4 earlier in the day.

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Top seed Marin Cilic barely put a foot wrong on Thursday to advance to the Tata Open Maharashtra semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over eighth-seeded Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in 64 minutes. The Croatian lost just one of his first service points (23/24) and struck seven aces as he continued his bid to win a third title on Indian soil, following victories in 2009 and 2010, when the ATP World Tour 250 tournament was held in Chennai.

Cilic will next challenge France’s Gilles Simon, who was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Spanish qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara. In other action today, second-seeded South African Kevin Anderson meets Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, whilst fifth-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase takes on fourth seed and wild card Benoit Paire of France.

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers dismissed home favourites Matthew Ebden and John Millman 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to the semi-finals of Brisbane International presented by Suncorp.

Kontinen/Peers, who won the Nitto ATP Finals doubles title in November, struck seven aces and broke four times to advance in 60 minutes. They will next meet Grigor Dimitrov and Ryan Harrison, who squeaked past another Aussie team in Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid 7-6(2), 7-6(3).

A third semi-final spot was secured by Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and New Zealand’s Artem Sitak, who beat American Steve Johnson and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6(6), 7-5. In first-round action, second seeds Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and New Zealand’s Michael Venus beat Nicholas Monroe of the U.S. and John-Patrick Smith of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.

They changed sports and surfaces, switching from a football pitch to a tennis court. But on Wednesday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the outcome was the same when Dominic Thiem and Aljaz Bedene faced off in the second round in Doha.

As Thiem’s football team did during the off-season, the Austrian outplayed the Slovenian, advancing to the quarter-finals of his first tournament of the 2018 season, 7-5, 6-4.

Thiem had plenty of opportunities in the early-evening match, earning 15 break points, including 10 in the second set, against Bedene, who now plays for Slovenia after switching from Great Britain last month. But Thiem converted only three of those break-point opportunities.

Still, he was pleased to improve to 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. “First set was good I converted break points fine,” said Thiem, who was two-for-five on break points in the opener. “But second set I think I missed too many chances… In general I’m very happy.”

Thiem will next face Frenchman Richard Gasquet or #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who play the final evening match on Wednesday.

Read More: Tsitsipas Focused On Key Targets In 2018

In 2017, #NextGenATP Andrey Rublev didn’t reach a quarter-final until June, at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. But three days into the new year, the Russian has already advanced to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of 2018.

Rublev improved to 2-1 against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, beating the seventh seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The 20-year-old Rublev saved seven of 11 break points, and will next meet Croatia’s Borna Coric.

The 21-year-old Coric, who knocked out second seed and World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round, routed Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-1, 6-3. Coric broke five times and won 54 per cent of his return points (32/59).