Carlos Alcaraz hailed his adapted serve as “an important weapon” in his armoury after defeating Tommy Paul in straight sets at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The Spanish top seed has yet to drop a set during his first four matches at Melbourne Park this year and looks in fine fettle for his bid to complete a career Grand Slam by securing his first title Down Under.
The six-time Major winner made it to the quarter-finals for a third year in a row following a 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the American 19th seed on Rod Laver Arena.
It will also be his 14th appearance in the last eight of a Slam, meaning he has beaten the record previously held by Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker for any player in the Open era before turning 23.
After the match, Alcaraz highlighted changes made to his serve as being at the heart of his latest run at Melbourne Park.
“I'm surprising myself to be honest,” said the 22-year-old, who will now take on home hope Alex de Minaur on Tuesday.
“The serve is something I've been working on for a long time. I'm really happy to see the improvement of the serve and to have a high percentage.
“After every set, I try to take up my percentage, I look at the screen after every set. In general, [in] the four matches I've played, the serve has been an important weapon for me.”
Di Minaur – seeded sixth – sealed his place in the next round after thrashing 10th seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 and is looking become the first Australian man to claim the crown since Mark Edmondson's triumph 50 years ago.
Daniil Medvedev's dreams a second Grand Slam title are over after the Russian 11th seed was dispatched 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 by the American Learner Tien.
After suffering three first-round Major exits in a row, Russia's Medvedev has at least rediscovered his winning touch in Melbourne, where he is a three-time beaten finalist, but found the 20-year-old in dominant form.
Tien's victory makes him the youngest quarter-finalist at the Australian Open since Nick Kyrgios in 2015 when he will tackle third seed Alexander Zverev – who crushed Francisco Cerundolo 6-2,6-4, 6-4 - for a place in the last four.
Czech 16th seed Jakub Mensik missed out on the chance to take on his “idol” Novak Djokovic after being forced to pull out from their fourth-round match due to an abdominal muscle injury.
“The fact that my match was to be against Novak on Rod Laver Arena makes it even more difficult,” Mensik said on Instagram. “I'm super sad not to step on to the court and to compete against my idol and the G.O.A.T.”
It meant 38-year-old Djokovic, seeded fourth, was given a rest in his bid for a record-extending 11th Melbourne Park title and a 25th Grand Slam crown which would surpass the record he currently shares with Margaret Court.
Next up will be either fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy or American ninth seed Taylor Fritz.
In the women's draw, top seed Aryna Sabalenka maintained her remarkable record in Slam tiebreaks on the way to a 6-1, 7-6 win against Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko.
The Belarusian extended her Open Era record streak of consecutive tiebreakers won in major championships to 20, with Sloane Stephens holding the previous best record of 14 secured between Roland Garros in 2015 and Wimbledon in 2016.
“What an incredible player for such a young age,” Sabalenka said in her on- court interview regarding 19-year-old Mboko.
“It's incredible to see these kids coming up on tour. I can't believe I say that, I feel like I'm a kid still but whatever! She pushed me really hard today.”
Sabalenka has another teenage talent in the American Iva Jovic in the next round. The 29th-seed battered Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, 6-0, 6-1 with the 18-year-old powering through to her first Slam quarter-final in just 53 minutes.
American third seed Coco Gauff was made to fight in her rollercoaster 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.
“My history has been tough with my serve, but I thought today was great,” said the two-time Slam winner. “Maybe one service game in the second set [I was not], but after that I was pretty good. I’m really happy with just being able to close it out on my racquet.
“Today I didn’t panic. I felt like the second set could have easily went my way, so I knew I just had to capitalise on those chances in the third set, and I did that.”
