Roger Federer became the first man to reach 15 Australian Open quarter-finals on Sunday, sprinting from a set down to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena.

Two days after surviving a final-set tie-break against John Millman, the six-time champion broke serve on seven occasions to move clear of 14-time quarter-finalist John Newcombe. Federer has now reached the last eight at 57 Grand Slam events.

“It was a tough start, I thought Marton played clean,” said Federer. “I guess it was the rest of the Millman match, that guy gave me a beatdown from the baseline, so maybe it took my confidence away a little bit and I think it just took some time.”

It is the second time in three years that Federer has beaten Fucsovics in the fourth round in Melbourne, having also ended the Hungarian’s run in 2018. With his two-hour, 11-minute victory, Federer improves to 3-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against the 27-year-old.

“The morning after John’s match and this morning, I lay in bed for like an hour and I was like, ‘When are we going to stand up?’… I’m good. I was able to recover and play a good match, so I am sure I am going to feel better with every day that goes by after that match.”

With a semi-final spot on the line, Federer will face two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren for the first time. Sandgren battled past 12th seed Fabio Fognini 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4 in three hours and 27 minutes.

Fucsovics made the quicker start under the lights, claiming the opening break of the match at 3-3. Three errors from Federer handed the Hungarian triple break point, with Fucsovics ripping a forehand up the line to convert his third opportunity. The 6’2” right-hander took the opening set with a comfortable service hold, as Federer missed the court with an attempted cross court forehand return.

An emphatic reaction followed from Federer, who held serve to love before striking winners up the line off both wings to break for a 2-0 lead. Federer soon clinched a second service break, as the forehand winners continued to flow, and levelled the match with a swinging serve into Fucsovics’ forehand.

Federer took the momentum into a crucial third set, landing a huge backhand down the line to win the opening point. The Swiss mixed the pace well and showed great touch en route to a 4-0 lead, as Fucsovics struggled to find a way past his opponent. Despite dropping serve in the sixth game, the six-time champion moved one set away from the quarter-finals with a short backhand volley.

For the third straight set, Federer earned an immediate service break. The World No. 3 attacked his opponent’s forehand, extracting multiple errors as he closed in on the last eight. Federer booked his meeting against Sandgren with a powerful serve into Fucsovics’ forehand.

“I was looking to mix it up a little bit more. It gets really slow in the night time, especially when it is cool like this, so I just had to figure it out and I finally found a way,” said Federer. “I had a good start to the second set and from then on, things got a little bit easier.”

Fucsovics was aiming to become the first Hungarian player to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals. The World No. 67 upset 13th seed Denis Shapovalov in the first round, before straight-sets wins against Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner and Tommy Paul.

Another day, another statement performance at the Australian Open from Novak Djokovic. The second-seeded Serbian booked his place in the quarter-finals on Sunday with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 6-4 victory over No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.

Although Djokovic’s serving stats weren’t quite as dominant as his previous two matches, the seven-time champion will still have plenty to be pleased with. He won 75 per cent of his first-serve points (41/55) and converted four of eight break point chances, ripping 38 winners to remain unbeaten (4-0) in his ATP Head2Head series with Schwartzman. Djokovic is through to the quarter-finals at this event for the 11th time.

“It’s the fourth round of a Grand Slam and Diego is a quality player. He’s had a terrific tournament in the first three rounds. I knew if I gave him time, he could do a lot of damage. He’s one of the quickest players on the Tour,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I tried to mix it up a bit, hit a few slices and bring him into the net sometimes. It worked well today.” 

Awaiting Djokovic in the next round is No. 32 seed Milos Raonic of Canada, who scored a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 win over Marin Cilic. Djokovic holds a perfect 9-0 record against Raonic in their ATP Head2Head rivalry, including a quarter-final victory five years ago in Melbourne. 

“A quite different match than the one today. He’s one of the tallest and strongest guys physically on the Tour. He has one of the biggest serves. I’ve got to be ready for missiles coming from his side of the net,” Djokovic said. “I played him here and remember it well… One of the key elements will be how well I’m returning and how confident I am on my service games. 

“I’m glad to see him healthy and playing at a really good level again. He’s a great guy. I’ve known him for many years and he’s a good friend. We speak the same language. It’s nice to see him in the quarters.”

Little separated Djokovic and Schwartzman in the early stages of the opening set as both players traded comfortable service holds. With Schwartzman serving at 3-4, the second seed stepped up and converted the lone break point of the set by drawing a backhand error from the Argentine. A quick hold in the next game gave Djokovic the early lead.

The World No. 2 continued to build momentum by immediately breaking Schwartzman in the opening game of the second set. Putting Schwartzman on his back foot with deep backhands and then stepping in to crack forehand winners, the pressure on the Argentine resulted in an insurance break two games later when the No. 14 seed missed a routine backhand volley.

Schwartzman fought back valiantly and broke Djokovic at 3-0, ending the Serbian’s streak of consecutive service holds in this event at 35. But the deficit was too much to recover from. Djokovic took a commanding two-sets lead when Schwartzman missed another backhand volley on set point.

Unable to draw errors from Djokovic or impose himself in the baseline rallies, the Argentine began to get frustrated in the closing stages of the match. A loose service game at 2-2 gave the seven-time champion another break as Schwartzman slumped his shoulders in disappointment. Djokovic rode the slight advantage to close out play after two hours and six minutes.

Tennis players often speak about the other players — current and former — they learn from and how those lessons impact their own games and careers. But it’s not every day that a superstar from another sport enters the conversation.

Seven-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic revealed on Saturday during an off-day interview with ESPN that he has learned a lot from retired basketball legend Kobe Bryant, especially when the Serbian fell outside the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings two years ago while he was dealing with an elbow injury.

“Kobe has been one of my mentors,” Djokovic said. “I’ve had several phone conversations with him and also of course when we see each other live in the past couple of years. When I was going through the injury with my elbow and struggling to mentally and emotionally handle all of these different things that were happening to me and dropping in the Rankings and then having to work my way up, he was one of the people who was really there for me to give me some very valuable advice and guidelines to kind of believe and trust in myself, trust the process that I’ll be back.

“I’m very grateful to him for being there for me, for being very supportive. I love Kobe, who doesn’t? He’s an amazing guy and one of the best basketball players and athletes of all-time.”

Almost forgot. Me and Djokovic right before team mtg pre game! #differentanimalsamebeast pic.twitter.com/cLW6sMsZBG

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) March 4, 2013

Bryant visited the US Open last year, and at the time, in his own interview with ESPN, he reflected on one specific conversation he had with Djokovic about overcoming hurdles such as an injury and adjusting to the games of rising stars while getting older.

“He was going through a process of, ‘Physically, I’m not where I used to be. How did you adjust and change your game?’” Bryant recalled. “We talked about it for a while and having the acceptance of an athlete to say, ‘I’m not what I used to be.’

“Novak’s my guy. We have a relationship. We’ve had a relationship for a long time.”

Djokovic posted a video in December of himself training in a gym with football star Cristiano Ronaldo. Both men were leaping up in an attempt to touch their head to a piece of string as if they were going up for a header.

“He was basically teaching me how to jump. He is considered as one of the greatest football, soccer players of all-time, obviously. What I love about that guy is his work ethic and his constant need to improve. He’s such a professional,” Djokovic said. “He’s got at home all these recovery devices and things. He’s always trying to find a way how to be best in the world and make a huge mark not just in his sport, but all sports. He’s a beast, he’s an unbelievable athlete. We trained together that day, and it was a great experience.”

Ronaldo x Djokovic ?

This is some serious content ? ?

?: @Cristiano | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/yP63nW5roK

— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 27, 2019

Djokovic takes all of these interactions very seriously, seeing an opportunity to not just spend time with some of the best athletes in the world, but to also learn from them as he tries to improve his game.

“To be surrounded with the people like Kobe and Cristiano is obviously a huge pleasure and honour for me. When I’m next to them, I turn into a student. I try to have my ears wide open and listen to what they have to say and ask questions,” Djokovic said. “I’m not afraid to ask questions and they are not as well. I think that’s a great way of exchanging some experiences and things that maybe you could use in your sport, in your life, in your career. It’s just amazing to share those life stories with them.”

Djokovic faces No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday.