https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01...pdates-alex-de-minaur-andrey-rublev/103372316
It ended 10th seed de Minaur's quest to reach the quarterfinals at his home slam for the first time, while Rublev made it to the last eight of a major for the 10th time and his third time in four years at Melbourne Park.
The 26-year-old appeared to be experiencing cramps in his right leg as he closed out the match by winning the last seven games in a row thanks to some heavy hitting that kept points short.
"Two days ago I said 'I hope we're gonna [play] a great match [that] spectators will enjoy. Now I regret [that] because I didn't expect it would be that 'enjoyable'," Rublev said in his on-court interview after the match.
"[While trailing two sets to one] I started to tell myself 'no, you're going to die today and do everything [to win]'."
De Minaur started well in front of a packed crowd cheering him on, earning two break points in the opening game, but Rublev denied both, which became a trend.
The Australian led at some point in all five of Rublev's service games in the opening set, but only broke once and the missed chances cost him as Rublev won the first set 6-4 with a break of his own in 45 minutes.
Neither could snatch a game off the server in the second frame and it went to a tie-break, where de Minaur puleld out two sublime shots at critical times — a round-the-net sliding forehand get to level at 2-2 and a running backhand lob to set up two set points, the second of which he converted.
De Minaur had to rally in another tiebreak after giving up a 5-2 lead in the third set, holding his nerve to win it 7-4, but things went sideways immediately after that.
After establishing the two-sets-to-one lead, de Minaur was broken in the second game of the fourth set as Rublev jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
The Australian looked like he got things back on serve with a break to make it 2-3, but Rublev broke straight back and de Minaur only won one of the final 10 games of the match.
Rublev has never made it past the quarters at a slam and will next take on Jannik Sinner, the fourth-seeded Italian who is the only man yet to drop a set in the singles draw.
"Jannik [had] an unreal season last year and already [has] amazing results this year," Rublev said.
"He beat me last time, so I don't know what to say; looks like I'm in trouble.
"I will just do my best and we'll see what's gonna happen."
Earlier, Novak Djokovic powered through to the quarterfinals with a straight-sets win over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino despite looking unwell throughout the match.
He will take on Taylor Fritz, who beat 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7/3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
On the women's side, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant tournament defence with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Amanda Anisimova, while Coco Gauff is also yet to drop a set after her 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Poland's Magdalena Fręch.
Sabalenka will play Czech ninth seed Barbora Krejčíková in the quarters, with Gauff taking on Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.
It ended 10th seed de Minaur's quest to reach the quarterfinals at his home slam for the first time, while Rublev made it to the last eight of a major for the 10th time and his third time in four years at Melbourne Park.
The 26-year-old appeared to be experiencing cramps in his right leg as he closed out the match by winning the last seven games in a row thanks to some heavy hitting that kept points short.
"Two days ago I said 'I hope we're gonna [play] a great match [that] spectators will enjoy. Now I regret [that] because I didn't expect it would be that 'enjoyable'," Rublev said in his on-court interview after the match.
"[While trailing two sets to one] I started to tell myself 'no, you're going to die today and do everything [to win]'."
De Minaur started well in front of a packed crowd cheering him on, earning two break points in the opening game, but Rublev denied both, which became a trend.
The Australian led at some point in all five of Rublev's service games in the opening set, but only broke once and the missed chances cost him as Rublev won the first set 6-4 with a break of his own in 45 minutes.
Neither could snatch a game off the server in the second frame and it went to a tie-break, where de Minaur puleld out two sublime shots at critical times — a round-the-net sliding forehand get to level at 2-2 and a running backhand lob to set up two set points, the second of which he converted.
De Minaur had to rally in another tiebreak after giving up a 5-2 lead in the third set, holding his nerve to win it 7-4, but things went sideways immediately after that.
After establishing the two-sets-to-one lead, de Minaur was broken in the second game of the fourth set as Rublev jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
The Australian looked like he got things back on serve with a break to make it 2-3, but Rublev broke straight back and de Minaur only won one of the final 10 games of the match.
Rublev has never made it past the quarters at a slam and will next take on Jannik Sinner, the fourth-seeded Italian who is the only man yet to drop a set in the singles draw.
"Jannik [had] an unreal season last year and already [has] amazing results this year," Rublev said.
"He beat me last time, so I don't know what to say; looks like I'm in trouble.
"I will just do my best and we'll see what's gonna happen."
Earlier, Novak Djokovic powered through to the quarterfinals with a straight-sets win over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino despite looking unwell throughout the match.
He will take on Taylor Fritz, who beat 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7/3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
On the women's side, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant tournament defence with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Amanda Anisimova, while Coco Gauff is also yet to drop a set after her 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Poland's Magdalena Fręch.
Sabalenka will play Czech ninth seed Barbora Krejčíková in the quarters, with Gauff taking on Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.
