John Millman will aim to avenge his loss to Grigor Dimitrov a year ago in pursuit of his first quarter-final appearance at home tournament the Brisbane International.

Millman was ranked 128th when he lost despite holding two match points in the second-round clash last year against the Bulgarian, who was then No.3 in the world.

But the gap has closed since the encounter, with Millman ranked 38th on the back of a career-best year when he beat Roger Federer to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.

Dimitrov has fallen to a ranking of 19 after a drop in form in 2018.

The 29-year-old Millman has welcomed the challenge of playing Dimitrov on Pat Rafter Arena on Wednesday morning knowing his opponent was champion in Brisbane two years ago.

“He had maybe a mixed year (in 2018) for his high standards. Still a pretty good year in my books,” Millman said.

“He’s a tough player.

“These are the ones you want to play. You want to test yourself with who I see as the best players in the world and what better place to do it than here in Brisbane.”

Dimitrov remembers last year’s three-set encounter “vividly”.

He was given an almighty scare before holding on to claim a match that lasted more than two and half hours.

“I mean, he played absolutely lights out, honestly,” Dimitrov said.

Millman capped off his year on Monday by storming into the second round after overcoming American Tennys Sandgren in three sets.

The two were separated only by tiebreaks before the hometown hero won the final set to love – a result he attributed to a strong pre-season.

“It’s always tough, the first match of the season. You haven’t quite found your range,” Millman said.

“I felt comfortable with my body. I just think my game probably increased a little bit.”

A possible final-eight clash with Japan’s Kei Nishikori awaits the winner.