Sydney, Australia, 18 October 2013 | Tennis NSW

Jay Andrijic has won through to his first career ITF Pro Tour semifinal after upsetting second seed Jose Statham at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis International #2.

After a slow start, the 18-year old local, ranked No.1459, fought his way through the deciding tiebreak to win 3-6 7-5 7-6(5) in what was the match of the day in warm, windy and smoky conditions in Sydney, the result of nearby bushfires.

Andrijic will next take on Luke Saville after the South Australian No.7 seed cruised to a 6-0 6-3 over Victorian Dayne Kelly in the last match of Thursday’s program.

In other results, sixth seed Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan knocked out the tournament top seed Yuki Bhambri of India 6-2 7-5, while eighth seed Kento Takeuchi set up an all-Japanese semifinal after beating fourth seed Adam Feeney of New South Wales.

On thursday, the men’s doubles final was also contested, with top seeds Statham and Dane Propoggia crowned champions for the second consecutive week in Sydney after a 6-4 6-3 win over third seeds Bhambri and Uchiyama.

The men’s singles semifinals will take place on Friday from 10am.