Atlanta, USA, 27 July 2019 | AAP

Alex de Minaur is through to the Atlanta Open semifinals after compatriot Bernard Tomic retired from their quarter-final clash.

The Australian No.1 was leading Tomic 6-2 3-0 on Friday when the 26-year-old called for the trainer and eventually decided not to continue, citing a hand injury.

“It’s not ideal obviously for him, but I’ll take this any day of the week. I got here to come, play some good tennis, and ended up with the win,” De Minaur told the ATP website.

“I hope Bernard gets better and recovers, and hopefully he’s all good for the next tournament.”

https://twitter.com/BBTatlantaopen/status/1154800017548500996?s=20

Another Aussie, Alexei Popyrin, went down in straight sets to Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals in the Georgian state capital.

The British ace won 7-5 6-4 over Popyrin, who is projected to set a new career-high ranking of No.87 next week.

De Minaur dominated Tomic in Atlanta, winning all but one of his 22 first-serve points and breaking Tomic three times without facing a single break point himself.

In the semi-finals, the 20-year-old will play American Reilly Opelka, who dispatched Briton Daniel Evans 7-6(3) 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

Opelka revealed he’s actually good mates with De Minaur, the man standing between him and the decider.

“The Demon, he’s an unbelievable player. A good buddy of mine, we’ve actually been grabbing dinner together the past few nights,” Opelka said.

“He’s probably the fastest guy on tour right now. He’s an unbelievable competitor and he actually serves really well for his size. You wouldn’t really expect it, but he’s got a really good serve.

“He beat me in a great match in Sydney. Obviously he really plays well on the hard courts, so it’s going to be a great test for me and I hope I can play my best, and it will be a really fun match.”

In the other quarterfinal, Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic will take on home hope Taylor Fritz.