Rafael Nadal survived a three-hour, 51-minute battle to end the challenge of Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 and reach his 10th Australian Open quarter-final on Sunday.

The 31-year-old found himself up a set and a break on three occasions but lost a second-set tie-break after Schwartzman broke back on each occasion and rallied to level the match. After dropping his first set of the tournament in that tie-break, the World No. 1 re-established control with an improved level on serve to clinch his spot in the last eight of a Grand Slam for the 33rd time.

Nadal, who is now assured of staying at World No. 1 post-tournament, will meet Marin Cilic who navigated his way past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(0), 7-6(3). Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-1.

The 2009 champion saved four break points and won 75 per cent of points behind his second serve en route to winning the first set, which he secured after breaking his rival in a marathon eighth game before a confident hold to love.

The second set was a constant battle, Nadal established control on three occasions with breaks of serve but was pegged back each time by stunning tennis from his 5’7” opponent. Schwartzman, looking to reach back-to-back Grand Slam quarter finals, forced a tie-break and stunned the World No. 1 who had not dropped a set in the tournament to level the match.

The top seed improved his level on serve in the third set to get back on track before securing the only break of the set in the fourth game, where he broke the 24th seed to love. Dropping just three points in his remaining three service games of the set, Nadal confidently moved two-sets-to-one ahead.

Schwartzman once again came back at Nadal at the start of the fourth set, holding serve before manufacturing four break points on the 16-time Grand Slam champion’s serve. But Nadal eventually fought his way out of danger and pounced on his opponent’s disappointment in the following game to break for a 2-1 lead.

Saving further break points at 4-3, Nadal applied the finishing touches in the next game to finally end Schwartzman’s fight, breaking serve on his third match point to stay on course in his bid for a second Australian Open title.

Another milestone victory for Roger Federer… Where have we heard that before? On Saturday, the Swiss added to his Australian Open legacy, notching an unprecedented 90th match win with a straight-set triumph over Richard Gasquet. 

The defending champion’s success Down Under is astounding. For the 16th time in his career, Federer will make an appearance in the Round of 16 at Melbourne Park. In fact, the World No. 2 has not dropped a set through the first three rounds for the first time since 2014.

Federer’s love affair with the Australian Open began nearly two decades ago, when a precocious 18-year-old with a dazzling one-handed backhand stepped on Rod Laver Arena for the first time. It was the year 2000 and the Basel native would go on to amass a glittering resume, rarely putting a wrong foot in 19 consecutive appearances. 

With so many memorable wins and epic matches, what are Federer’s fondest memories at Melbourne Park? Needless to say, the 36-year-old has plenty to choose from.

First match win on debut against Michael Chang
“My first round here in 2000 against Chang was cool,” said Federer following his victory on Saturday. “Clearly it was my first win here.”

Clinching World No. 1 for the first time
“[In 2004], the semi-final match against Ferrero and a couple days later winning my first Australian Open against Safin. Securing World No. 1 the following Monday was big for me.”

The 13 five-setters
“I had a lot of five-setters, too. Never really had a bad tournament, to be honest. Even in the year I lost to Seppi, I thought I was actually playing alright. Even the Safin match I ended up losing in 2005 was epic.”

Two epic finals vs. Rafa
“Of course, the two finals with Rafa here in 2009, which was the best we ever played against each other, I believe, then last year’s.”

Winning his first major as a father
“2010 also, I think it was my first major with the girls. That was nice.”

Federer is now one win from matching his Wimbledon mark of 91 victories. Moreover, his current 10-match win streak in Melbourne is his longest at a Grand Slam in seven years. He will face one of the breakout stars of the first week in World No. 80 Marton Fucsovics. It will be their first encounter and remarkably just Federer’s second against a Hungarian opponent in his career. His first? A straight-set win over Fucsovics’ coach Attila Savolt at the 2002 Australian Open.

“I’m very happy that I was able to rise to a level that I needed to beat Richard,” Federer said, assessing his third-round win. “It was tough. The score shows it, as well. I could have done it maybe a bit faster. At the same time, I’m happy to have done it the way it happened. I was pleased. I think I had some good shots. I was happy the way I played. I also thought we both played a good level again, so it was fun.”

Victory over Fucsovics would put Federer in his 14th quarter-final at Melbourne Park, where he owns a perfect 13-0 record. It won’t be long before the Swiss needs a Top 10 list for his Aussie Open memories.

In the years to come, Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios may meet for Grand Slam titles. But on Sunday, two of the most talented players on the ATP World Tour will face off for a spot in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

Dimitrov won what was at the time the biggest title of his career at last August’s Western & Southern Open by defeating Kyrgios — claiming his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. However, Kyrgios has arguably seized momentum in the rivalry — despite trailing in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-2 — ahead of their enticing encounter.

Just two weeks ago, Kyrgios won his first ATP World Tour title in his home country, Australia, at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. And in the semi-finals, he came back from a set down to defeat the in-form 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion, Dimitrov.

“He played a pretty solid first set. I played a pretty loose game to get broken,” Kyrgios said at the time. “Pretty much from then on, I felt pretty in control of the match.”

FedExATP Head2Head: Grigor Dimitrov vs. Nick Kyrgios

The Canberra native struck 19 aces and claimed 82 percent of his first-serve points, playing with a clear aggression that took the match off of Dimitrov’s racquet.

“Sometimes when there’s no way out, you try to change up the game and break the rhythm of a player. And today just everything, whatever I thought he tried, it was just great,” Dimitrov said. “He deserved to win today.”

Now, the World No. 3 is the player who has to find an answer for Kyrgios’ game, which has thrilled the Australian crowd in the tournament’s first week. The 22-year-old defeated his idol and fan favourite, 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in four sets Friday evening to gather plenty of momentum heading into the showdown.

“I feel like my level is there,” Kyrgios said. “He’s had a couple great wins this week. I know it’s going to be tough. He loves the five-set format. He loves playing marathons. He’s played well here in the past. I know it’s going to be incredibly tough, but I’m not going to think about it right now.”

It is hard to imagine the third seed bringing anything but his best. After getting pushed to 8-6 in a fifth set against Mackenzie McDonald in the second round, Dimitrov improved in a four-set third-round victory over #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev. The dynamic right-hander is prepared for his opponent and Kyrgios’ home crowd.

“I’ve played against the local, so to speak, all that. That’s part of the game,” Dimitrov said. “I’m very excited to just play, to go out there and compete. I appreciate my wins now. To get to play another day, I mean, this itself should get you already in a different mindset coming into whoever you [have] got to play.

Dimitrov has proven his prowess in the big moments on Rod Laver Arena, where the fourth-round match will be played. The Bulgarian pushed current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal to five sets in a four-hour, 56-minute semi-final last year that Eurosport commentator John McEnroe called the “match of his life”.

“It’s for sure one of the best matches I ever played,” Dimitrov said on Friday. “Absolutely.”

Will he be able to conjure such an effort again when he faces the in-form home favourite?

The world will soon find out.

Alexander Zverev has proven his talent, soaring into the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings with five ATP World Tour titles last year, but once again fell short at a Grand Slam.

After a tough five-set loss to Hyeon Chung on Saturday, the World No. 4, still waiting to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final, received some valuable advice from 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

Remembering his own struggles early in his career, Federer reflected that it is not always easy to progress to the latter stages of a major for the first time. The Swiss did not advance past the quarter-finals stage at that level before breaking through and winning his first Grand Slam title, at the 17th time of asking, at Wimbledon in 2003.

“Give yourself time, maybe set the bar a bit lower,” Federer told the press he advised Zverev. “First let’s maybe try to look for a quarter-final or a semi-final, not just right away coming to the Australian Open or US Open thinking, ‘I have to win this thing’.

“Be patient about it. Don’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure. Learn from these mistakes. Whatever happened happened. Unfortunately you have to believe in the process you’re in right now. You had a good off-season. You’re working hard. You’re doing the right things. It’s maybe not paying off at the Grand Slam level, but just stay calm, don’t dig yourself into a hole. There’s no reason for that right now.”

Explaining why he wanted to help his younger rival, who beat him to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal last year, the defending Australian Open champion added, “I just thought some nice words would maybe cheer him up, get him over the loss a few more hours earlier than it normally would.

“It’s supposed to hurt. I’m sure it did. He looked crushed when I saw him. I gave him a tap on the shoulder and said, ‘Come on, it’s not too bad. It could be worse’,” said Federer.

Zverev will perhaps look to use this advice in future Grand Slam championships, which he has admittedly struggled in.

“I have some figuring out to do with what happens to me in deciding moments in Grand Slams. It happened at Wimbledon. It happened in New York. It happened here,” said Zverev.

The Internazionali BNL d’Italia and Rogers Cup champion, disappointed after losing from two-sets-to-one up, summarised his thoughts on his level and his Grand Slam troubles in his press conference.

“I think game-wise my level was good,” reflected Zverev. “I think I should have won in four sets but I think for four sets, as I said, the match was [at a] very, very high level and very intense. I’m still young, so I have got time. I definitely have some figuring out to do for myself.”