Melbourne, Australia, 26 October 2013 | Tennis Australia

Top seed Matthew Ebden from Western Australia was among eight Australians advancing to the singles and doubles semifinals at the Victorian Tennis International ATP Challenger event on Friday at Melbourne Park.

Ebden advanced to the final four after defeating 17-year-old qualifier Blake Mott from New South Wales 6-4 6-1 in 93 minutes.

He will meet eighth seed James Ward from Great Britain in Saturday’s semifinals after Ward overcame Kiwi Michael Venus 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4, a battle lasting two hours and twenty minutes.

Fifth seed James Duckworth from New South Wales defeated India’s Yuki Bhambri 6-3 6-4, ensuring a second Aussie remained alive in the singles event.

Duckworth will try to set-up an all-Australian final when he takes on sixth seed Tatsuma Ito from Japan; Ito defeated third seed Bradley Klahn from the United States 6-3 6-3 in his quarterfinal on Friday.

In doubles action, top seeds Chris Guccione and Matt Reid progressed to the semis where they will meet fellow Australians Alex Bolt and Andrew Whittington.

In a match moved indoors due to rainy conditions at Melbourne Park, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Ben Mitchell survived a tight match tiebreaker to set up a semifinal match against the all-Japanese pair of Tatsuma Ito and Hiroki Moriya.