Wawrinka, Nishikori off to winning start at Brisbane International

Two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka kicked off his 2017 season on a promising note as he swept aside Viktor Troicki of Serbia in straight sets to march into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International here on Wednesday.

Swiss star Wawrinka, who has not suffered a defeat in his last seven meetings with the Serbian, registered a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win in a thrilling second-round contest that lasted almost one-and-a-half hour.

With the win, the 2016 US Open champion has now set up a clash against South Africa's Kyle Edmund for a place in the semi-finals.

In another men's singles clash, third-seed Kei Nishikori of Japan also made a winning start to his season after surviving an early scare from Jared Donaldson of United States.

Nishikori went down in the first set before he rebounded strongly to post a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Donaldson and book his place in the quarter-finals.

The Japanese star will now take on either eighth-seeded David Ferrer or Australia's Jordan Thompson for a place in the last-four.