The fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open men’s singles tournament was flat-out fantastic. There were a number of amazing matches between top ATP Tour players that went the full five sets, two of which included top-five seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev, who are both back in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, a brand new face has made the quarter-final round in Melbourne, with young American Ben Shelton beating compatriot JJ Wolf in another five-set war.
Read on below as SBOTOP catches you up on all the latest news and updates from the ATP Tour’s talented tennis players at the Australian Open.
Tsitsipas survives five-setter against Sinner
Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in three out of the last four years, and the No 3 seed is still on course to make it four in five after surviving a five-setter against Jannik Sinner.
Tsitisipas was seemingly headed for a straight-sets victory after going up two sets. However, he quickly surrendered the next two, which led to a decisive fifth set.
But Tsitsipas held his nerve to eventually seal the hard-fought win, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, which lasted four hours.
“It was a long match, guys, I feel like I spent an entire century in this court playing tennis,” said Tsitsipas. “It felt so long. What a great night… I’m really excited to be sharing moments like this on the court, especially in Australia. I’m trying to do my best out here, it’s not easy. I had an unbelievable opponent on the other side of the court today, playing incredible tennis in the third and fourth sets.”
Tsitsipas, who is now one win away from his third straight Australian Open semi-final berth, moves on to the quarter-finals, where he will face Jiri Lehecka. The young Czech defied the Australian Open 2023 odds as he knocked off No 6 Felix Auger Aliassime in four sets.
Rublev beats Rune in roller-coaster five-setter
The fourth-round battle between two top-10 seeds – No 5 Andrey Rublev and No 9 Holger Rune – certainly delivered as Rublev came out on top in what turned out to be one of, if not the match of the tournament thus far.
After the two alternated the first four sets, Rublev went behind in the fifth set and needed to save two match points in order to force a tiebreak. And after going down another huge hole in the tiebreak, Rublev again produced plenty of Australian Open 2023 highlights as he recovered en route to a 6-3 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6(9) victory.
“It’s a rollercoaster man,” Rublev said post-match. “I was 5-2 down in the fifth set. 6-5 with two match points and then 5-0 in the super tie-break. I never in my life was able to win matches like this and this is the first ever time that I win something like this.
“Especially in a very special tournament playing the Australian Open. Playing in the quarter-final is something that I will remember for sure all my life. I have no words man. I am shaking.”
Rublev now moves on to his second Australian Open quarter-final and seventh Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, where he will face the winner of the Novak Djokovic-Alex de Minaur match.
Shelton gets win over compatriot Wolf in five sets
Ben Shelton is moving on to his first career Grand Slam quarter-final as the 20-year-old American edged out compatriot JJ Wolf, 6-7(5) 6-2 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 6-2
The two young Americans have been among the big surprises in the Australian Open thus far as they made their way to the fourth round. Shelton had yet to even win a single Grand Slam main draw match prior to this year, while Wolf had won four – all at the US Open.
After losing the first two tiebreaks of the match to go down 2-1, Shelton finally came out on top in the fourth-set tiebreak to force a decisive fifth set. And the 20-year-old completely took charge in that final set to book a place in his first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final.
Shelton could square off with another compatriot in Tommy Paul or No 24 Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-finals.
Speaking of Americans, Sebastian Korda will be another one set to play in the quarter-finals after another dramatic five-setter decided by a super tiebreak. The 22-year-old came out on top in a hard-fought match against No 10 Hubert Hurkacz, 3-6 6-3 6-2 1-6 7-6(10).
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