Top 10 seeds Daniil Mevedev and Hubert Hurkacz both dispatched underdog opponents on Monday to start the second week of the Australian Open with fourth-round victories.
World No. 3 Medvedev held off the only Portuguese to ever get this far at a major, defeating Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-1.
Poland’s Hurkacz, seeded ninth, stopped French wild card Arthur Cazaux 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Medvedev is chasing his second Grand Slam trophy after winning the 2021 US Open and playing Melbourne finals in 2021 and 2022.
Medvedev can also cling to long-odds of returning to the top ATP ranking if circumstances fall into place.
He would need to reach the Sunday final without top rivals Novak Djokovic and tournament No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz losing before the final.
Medvedev had to battle to get past the 69th-ranked Borges, who saved two match points in the third set and came back from 5-2 down to force a fourth set, which Medvedev swept.
The challenger out-hit the seed with 49 winners to 21 – plus 13 aces – for Medvedev.
Borges almost doubles Medvedev’s unforced error count with 66 to 34 for the winner.
“He was very aggressive in the third set,” Medvedev said. “It was tough physically.
“Any shot I did not hit perfectly he would go full power, it was pretty impressive.
“In that set I didn’t play long enough or good enough and missed too much.
“In the fourth the only thing on my mind was I was hoping it would not be five sets,” said the player whose last victory 48 hours earlier finished at 3:40 a.m.
“Today I was feeling 100 per cent before the match – but he made me run.
“I’m pretty dead now, to be honest. In the fourth set I raised my energy level but now…”
Hurkacz reached his first quarter-final here on the back of 11 aces – seven less than his 21-year-old rookie opponent.
“I served well and he served well as well,” Hurkacz said. “I needed to stay aggressive and I was very happy with today’s performance.
“I haven’t been to this stage of a Grand Slam many times, so I’m super excited.”
Sixth seed Alexander Zverev dominated in a dramatic final-set tiebreaker, going through on the first of six match points to win the epic.
The German defeated Briton Cam Norrie 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-6 (10-3) as he played his second four-hour match of the tournament.
Melbourne is Zverev’s most successful Grand Slam with his record now standing at 24-8.
“At the end of the day, this is a Grand Slam where you want to play your best,” the winner said.
“Cam was playing amazing tennis, I’m just happy to go through.
“Hopefully it will be my day in the quarter-finals,” added the five-time semi-finalist at the majors.
The match was interupted briefly in third set as a pro-Palestinian protestor threw leaflets onto the court.
Security did not show up in time, so two fans escorted the female protestor out of the stadium.
