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Aussie No.3 John Millman is consistently reaching the last eight, but St Petersburg defeat to Taylor Fritz confirms progressing to the semi-final is a problem.

Australian No.3 John Millman has been beaten in the quarter-finals of the St Petersburg Open by Taylor Fritz, the fifth-seeded American.

Millman was playing in his sixth quarter-final of the year and the fourth in his last five tournaments. Unfortunately he has yet to win any of them.

On Friday the Queenslander lost 6-4 6-2 in 74 minutes

Facing a player nine years younger and 29 ranking places above him Millman began well, winning the first two games, but Fritz broke back and levelled at 2-2.

The key break came in the ninth, a down-the-line winner giving Fritz a 5-4 advantage, which he backed up by serving out with an ace.

The Californian broke immediately in the second set and took a 2-0 lead with his fifth successive game. He broke again in the seventh game before taking the match having won nine of the final 11 games.

"It feels great. I came out and played really well today," Fritz said. "I knew what I had to do and I did it and I played well and I am happy to be in the semi-finals.

"There was a really important point [at the start of the second set] and I won that point and I carried the momentum from there. It was a really important break."

Fritz will next face Jan-Lennard Struff after the German upset second-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3 in 81 minutes.

The other semi-final will be between Marin Cilic, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 3-6 6-3, and Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp who stunned Russian top-seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4.