Cilic's head-to-head record against Melzer now stands at 4-2

Sixth seed Marin Cilic became the latest big name casualty at the Dubai Championships as Austrian Jurgen Melzer won their quarter-final 7-6 (10-8) 7-5.

Cilic had set point at 7-6 in the tie-break but world number 31 Melzer hit a fine winner and thwarted the Croatian.

Seeds Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon all suffered early exits in the tournament.

Novak Djokovic, the one remaining world top-10 player, fought back to overcome unseeded Ivan Ljubicic 2-6 6-4 6-0.

Cilic was strong favourite against Melzer, having won two tournaments already this year.

The 21-year-old started well, losing only three points in his opening three service games and breaking his opponent's serve.

However, 28-year-old Melzer, who lost to the world number nine in the semi-finals of the Zagreb Indoors earlier this month, saved two break points at 1-4 in his next service game before a wide Cilic forehand gave the left-hander a break back.

In the second set there was a controversial line call when Cilic had a break point at 30-40 and 5-5 on the Melzer serve.

A line judge called the Austrian's drive into the baseline area as out, but the umpire immediately over-ruled it.

When Cilic then appealed to a Hawkeye replay, the ball was shown to have caught the back edge of the line, causing the rally to be replayed.

606: DEBATE Discuss the day's action in Dubai

Cilic then left his approach somewhat short and Melzer took full advantage with a scorching pass.

The Croat's confidence dipped from that point on and he succumbed to defeat on his own serve as he over-hit on Melzer's first match point.

Cilic lamented: "I was hitting the ball well and serving good.

"Then I had a little bit of a rushed game on my serve and I lost three or four points in a row. From there, he started to play better. Melzer deserved it."

"I kept my game together after being 4-1 down and then played an almost perfect match," said Melzer.

"There were very tough conditions, with hot weather and the balls flying," added the Austrian, who will play Mikhail Youzhny in Friday's semi-finals.

Seventh-seeded Russian Youzhny overcame a tired-looking giant-killer, Janko Tipsarevic, conqueror of third-seed Murray on Wednesday, 6-3 6-4.

Ljubicic won his first match with Djokovic four years ago but the Serbian had won their four most recent encounters.

The unseeded player moved ahead due to some impressive serving, and sent down 14 aces.

But from a set down and 4-4, Djokovic held serve then took his first break point opportunity in winning eight successive games to prevail.

He admitted he found Ljubicic's serve difficult and said: "I think he serves as well as anybody on the tour right now.

"But I knew that at a certain point he's going to miss first serves, and that was my chance," the 22-year-old added.

"The 10th game (of the second set) kind of decided the match. Then I started hitting the ball and feeling really comfortable. But I was lucky."

In the last four Djokovic will play Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who overcame fellow unseeded player Michael Berrer 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

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