Sam Groth’s hopes of reaching the Brisbane International quarter-finals have been boosted after South African fourth-seed Kevin Anderson withdrew from the tournament on Thursday.

The world No.20 pulled out shortly before his second-round clash with Australian wildcard Groth due to an acute stomach virus.

Groth will now play lucky loser Pierre-Hugues Herbert after organisers had to scramble to find a replacement for Anderson ahead of Thursday night’s match.

The winner of the clash will meet French eighth-seed Jeremy Chardy in the last eight.