He’s already won four titles around the world this year and Dane Sweeny credited his mental composure for taking a huge step to a fifth as he scrapped his way into the semi-finals at the Capital of Country International in Tamworth.

Sweeny, 24, prevailed in a wild match against fifth seed Pavle Marinkov – remaining on track to lift his world ranking inside the top 400 – with a 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 win in front of a healthy crowd at The Courts at East.

The top ranked player heading into the first of two events at Tamworth, Sweeny remains on course for a showdown with second seed Marc Polmans, who had a far easier time sweeping past Colin Sinclair 6-3, 6-1 in his last eight clash.

Sweeny looked in cruise control when he raced away with the first set, but momentum quickly changed with 19-year-old Marinkov wresting control of the second set.

Sweeny would have been forgiven for losing his cool in the decider as he twice broke Marinkov’s serve early before immediately surrendering the advantage.

But after five straight games in which neither player could hold – including three for Marinkov – Sweeny scored the decisive advantage before closing out the match in just under two hours.

“I was all over him in the first set, and he wasn’t playing his best going for too much and giving me a lot of errors,” Sweeny said.

“I was actually a little bit tight at the start of the second, played a shaky service game and all of a sudden he’s up 2-0, 3-0 and he’s got the ball rolling. When he’s in the lead, he’s very good as he’s quite aggressive with a big serve.

“I did a really good job to reset for the third set, sticking to my guns, playing tactically smart. I ended up staying really calm and I think that’s what won me the match.”

Sweeny has already won ITF events in San Diego, Taipei and twice in Brisbane this year and will look to continue his Australian swing with success in the country music capital.

It was the third time Sweeny has triumphed over Marinkov in the past month, with all three wins including at least a set which he claimed 6-0.

Polmans, ranked just five spots below Sweeny on the ATP rankings, needed only an hour and 17 minutes to advance to the final four with his third successive lifetime win over Sinclair.

“I was happy to get through in straight sets today,” Polmans said after playing twice on Thursday to catch up for the rain-marred start to the week.

“Colin has always been a tricky opponent for me. He’s got a great serve and you have to be very focused. I’m happy I got that first set and got the ball rolling in the second.

“It’s my first time in Tamworth, but I’m really impressed with the facilities. It’s great with a lot of courts to practise on and the match courts are all the same. It’s great to have two tournaments here. Very impressed.”

Polmans will play Turkish qualifier Mustafa Ege Sik in the semi-finals after the 16-year-old continued his remarkable run this week with a punishing 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Enzo Aguiard. The match lasted more than two hours.

Sweeny will take on Poland’s Filip Peliwo in the other final four showdown.

In Wagga Wagga, women’s top seed Lizette Cabrera faced a similar battle to Sweeny, forced to save a match point and go deep into the third set to eventually see off Japan’s Erika Sema 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 at Jim Elphick Tennis Centre.

It was a big scare for the 27-year-old Cabrera, who is on the cusp of creeping back inside the world’s top 200.

Great Britain’s United Cup representative Katie Swan continued her march through the main draw with a ruthless 6-1, 6-0 win over New Zealand’s ninth seed Monique Barry, while Taylah Preston won the big moments against Hayu Kinoshita in a 7-6(7), 6-3 result.

Elena Micic ensured the top four seeds all made the semi-finals of the Wagga Wagga Tennis International with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Japan’s Haruna Arakawa.

Tennis NSW is staging ITF events in regional NSW for the first time, with men’s and women’s players to feature in back-to-back tournaments in the respective towns.