Australia’s top ranked junior Luke Saville has scraped through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open boys’ championship.

Saville, who turns 18 next week, defeated England’s Kyle Edmund, the No.7 seed, on Thursday 7-5 7-5.

The reigning junior Wimbledon champion meets Czech Adam Pavlasek for a spot in the final.

“It’s good to back up what I did last year,” Saville said.

“It wasn’t the most clean match. It was a little bit breezy and I think we were both suffering from a few nerves.

“Sometimes it’s nicer to win a bit scrappy and you can draw confidence from that.

“I could have made it a lot easier today. I served quite poorly throughout the match and definitely didn’t play my best tennis.”

Saville said he was aware he was a bigger target following his Wimbledon win.

“At Wimbledon, I was around 20 in the world and I’m now No.1 in the world,” he said.

“Obviously, everyone’s shooting for me now and trying to take me down but, from a young age, I’ve been top in Australia for my age group so I’ve experienced that feeling of being top dog.

“But I guess there are a few more expectations and pressure but I love the challenge and usually I thrive on that pretty well,” Saville said.