The 25-year-old recovered from a break down in the second set to beat the experienced Italian 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

He will play American world number 20 John Isner in the last eight.

Edmund reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open two years ago but has since fallen to 69 in the rankings going into this year's event, which starts in Melbourne on Monday.

British number one Dan Evans will play his Adelaide Open quarter-final against Russia's Andrey Rublev on Thursday.