Maria Sharapova stunned defending champion Caroline Wozniacki to sweep into the Australian Open last 16 Friday and join ice men Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who clinically disposed of their opponents.
The Russian five-time Grand Slam winner, who has struggled since returning from a drugs ban in 2017, was at full throttle in ending the Dane’s dream of a second major title.
Sharapova won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 with the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena and will next play in-form local hope Ashleigh Barty, who bounced Greece’s Maria Sakkari, for a berth in the quarterfinals.
Roger Federer celebrated his 100th match at the Australian Open on Friday by giving young American Taylor Fritz a centre court schooling to reach the last 16.
Six-time champion Federer was in devastating touch against the talented 21-year-old, breaking him five times while not giving an inch on serve in the 6-2 7-5 6-2 masterclass at Rod Laver Arena.
The third seed, bidding for a third straight title at Melbourne Park, reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for a record-extending 63rd time in the professional era.
The former world No 1 will take on Greek young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the quarterfinals as he continues his quest for a 21st Grand Slam title.
Rafael Nadal hailed Alex de Minaur as “one of the best in the world” but still showed the teenager the Australian Open door 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round on Friday.
The relentless Spanish 17-time Grand Slam champion dragged the 19-year-old Australian 27th seed over every inch of Rod Laver Arena as he romped to victory in 2hr 22min.
The Spaniard limped out of last year’s Australian Open at the quarterfinal stage, cut short his 2018 season to have surgery on a foot injury and pulled out of his Brisbane warm-up with a thigh niggle.
But in the third competitive match of his comeback he was back to his barnstorming best with his all-action game hardly allowing his young rival a sniff.
De Minaur, to his eternal credit, did little wrong and never gave up the fight.
At fleeting moments he even had a glimmer of hope of applying the brakes to the runaway Nadal juggernaut, saving six match points – one after chasing down ball after ball in a lung-bursting 24-shot rally.
The first three games of the match ran to several deuces and 23 minutes of pulsating baseline rallying.
But once he got the break for a 2-1 lead, Nadal decided he had enough of the jousting and swept the next four games in just another 17 minutes.
De Minaur was pummelled again on serve in the first game of the second set, which ran to nine deuces and 18 minutes, until the tireless Nadal secured it with his fifth break point.
De Minaur managed only his second break point of the match as Nadal served for the second set at 5-2, but it was repelled.
A third and a fourth followed but two big deliveries from the world No 2’s new service action snuffed those out.
Nadal converted on his first set point and another early break in the third saw him surge through for the third match in a row without the loss of a set.
De Minaur, who has Spanish heritage, was simply given a masterclass for the second time at a Slam by the man he dubs “the king”.
At the same stage at Wimbledon last year he went down in to an identical 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.
Nadal moves inexorably on and will face unseeded Czech former world No 4 Tomas Berdych for a place in the quarterfinals.
Fiery Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas was looking forward to a last-16 clash with Roger Federer after overcoming a mini-meltdown to beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.
The 14th seed, touted among the new generation of young stars as a future champion, came through the third round after being docked his first serve for exceeding the shot clock at a crucial moment while facing a break point in the third set.
The powerful Georgian Basilashvili, seeded 19, took advantage on the second delivery to break back causing Tsitsipas to unload a verbal tirade in the direction of his coaching team in his player box.
French umpire Alexandre Robein clearly understood enough of Greek and English vernacular to slap the 20-year-old with a code violation for an audible obscenity.
But backed by a raucous Greek contingent in a rowdy atmosphere on Margaret Court Arena, he recovered his composure to win the set in a tense tiebreak.
He cruised through the fourth set to become the first Greek man to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam twice, after reaching the same stage at Wimbledon last year.
“It’s good to have such support and exciting to have an atmosphere like this,” said Tsitsipas.
“I feel like I’m playing at home, I never had so many Greek – and Aussie – people support me.”
Czech veteran Tomas Berdych rallied to reach the fourth round with a battling 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over Argentine 18th seed Diego Schwartzman.
Berdych reached the semifinals in Melbourne in 2014 and 2015 but is unseeded this year after injury.
Grigor Dimitrov’s rejuvenation under the wing of Andre Agassi continued apace as he powered into the last 16 with a straight-sets win over Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
The 27-year-old Bulgarian won 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours under the roof at Melbourne Arena to stay on course for a potential quarterfinal against second seed Rafael Nadal.
Before that can happen, the 20th seed’s resurgence will need to continue against an unseeded player – either American Frances Tiafoe or veteran Italian Andreas Seppi – in the fourth round.
Dimitrov, who was tumbling down the rankings before adding Agassi to his team in October, played sparkling tennis at times reminiscent of 2017 when he reached a career-high ranking of three.
The world number 21 gave the credit to his coaching team, led by Dani Vallverdu who formerly coached Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych.
But he singled out Agassi for the highest praise.
A relieved Marin Cilic squeezed into the fourth round of the Australian Open in the early hours of Saturday after Fernando Verdasco double-faulted on match point to allow the sixth seed to complete an epic comeback win.
Beaten by Roger Federer in last year’s final, Cilic was pushed to the brink by Spanish veteran Verdasco who had the Croat on the ropes in the fourth set tiebreak.
But having fired 27 aces, Verdasco’s serve let him down at the crucial moment, and he fell 4-6 3-6 6-1 7-6(8) 6-3 after a four-hour 18-minute classic at Margaret Court Arena.
In the nerve-jangling tiebreak, former US Open champion Cilic saved a match point with a huge serve into the corner but was at the mercy of Verdasco’s serve on the second.
The 35-year-old Spaniard clipped the net cord on his second serve effort, though, leaving him wide-eyed in shock and grabbing at his hair.
Cilic fired a backhand winner down the line to bring up set point and then blasted a forehand past his shattered opponent to take the match into a fifth.
