Bernard Tomic is out of the Sydney International after being downed 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (15-13) in his quarter-final clash with big-serving left-hander Gilles Muller on Ken Rosewall Arena.
A tight opening set was claimed by the world No.45 from Luxembourg who prevailed in the tiebreak having sent down 11 aces against the Queenslander.
The second set followed a similar pattern with both players dominating on serve with Muller sending down a further 14 aces and Tomic eight.
Neither player converted a single break point in the match, but Tomic squandered two set points in the second set on Muller's serve then raced into a 2-0 lead in the tiebreak.
However, he was unable to take advantage of that mini break and although he successfully saved four match points on his own serve, the 31-year-old Muller clinched a marathon tie-breaker with a stinging return that Tomic couldn't keep in play.
It was the fourth time in as many meetings Muller has beaten Tomic and he will now face Serbia's Viktor Troicki for a place in Saturday's final.
Despite the loss, Tomic was satisfied with his performance and said Muller's serve was one of hardest to face.
"It was very close tennis and very good tennis, I think," Tomic said.
"He served really well. I knew it was going to be difficult.
"That serve is probably one of the best serves out there and left-handed. Not a lot of guys can play like him.
"I think he struggled with a lot of injuries the past few years and that is what has delayed his ranking. He is a top-20. He's very good.
"In the end I had a chance to win. But that's tennis."
The world No.71 had reached the final of this tournament the previous two years but he believes he'll head to Melbourne for next week's Australian Open in good shape after also reaching the quarter-finals in Brisbane last week.
"I think there was only one point in the tiebreak where we lost each other's serves," he said.
"Other than that, I thought there was no breaks of serve in the match. It was solid the way I played. I played good under pressure on the break points."
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