Reuters
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Iga Swiatek dazzled in bright sunshine to make short work of their third-round opponents on Friday as some normalcy returned to the Australian Open after scheduling woes, wild weather, upsets and late finishes.
That sense of normality was shattered in the cool of the late evening, however, when American Sebastian Korda stunned former world number one Daniil Medvedev 7-6(7) 6-3 7-6(4) for the biggest win of his young career.
The 22-year-old, son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr, unleashed an all-court assault on the Russian 2021 U.S. Open champion, hammering 50 winners and making regular charges to the net.
"Probably one of the better matches I've played in my career," said an elated Korda. "Just stuck with the game plan, kept going after it. I think positive mentally throughout it. No matter what happened, kept pushing forward."
Third seed Tsitsipas, the top surviving seed in the men's draw, beat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 7-6(5) 6-3 and then waxed lyrical on the clement conditions after hours of tennis were lost this week to extreme heat and rain.
"Fair crack of the whip mate, I mean, it was great," Tsitsipas said, slipping into the local vernacular.
"Kind of kept things clean and I enjoyed the weather today, what a lovely day for tennis it is today, isn't it? It's great playing in sunshine like this, this is what Melbourne's all about."
Tsitsipas has still not dropped a set in the tournament as he chases his maiden Grand Slam, with his chances boosted by the exits of holder Rafa Nadal and second seed Casper Ruud and an injury cloud hanging over favourite Novak Djokovic.
The departure of Medvedev, the losing finalist for the last two years at Melbourne Park, further opened up the draw.
Women's favourite Swiatek was even more dominant in her 6-0 6-1 victory over Cristina Bucsa as she took another step towards adding a first Australian Open title to the French and U.S. Open crowns she won last year.
"A couple of years ago when I was in the fourth round I was really exhausted, and right now I feel this is the right place to be," the 21-year-old top seed said.
"Hopefully I'm going to continue to playing solid and hopefully I'm going to play more matches here."
Up next for Swiatek is Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who battled past last year's Melbourne Park runner-up Danielle Collins 6-2 5-7 6-2.
It was a bad start to the day for the American women but in-form Jessica Pegula, the third seed, soon swatted aside Marta Kostyuk 6-0 6-2 and seventh seed Coco Gauff dismissed compatriot Bernarda Pera 6-3 6-2.
Madison Keys looked like continuing her unbeaten start to the season when she took the first set against Victoria Azarenka only for the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion to rally for a 1-6 6-2 6-1 upset of the 10th seed.
Azarenka will next play world number 87 Zhu Lin of China, who stunned Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari 7-6(3) 1-6 6-4 in the final match of the day.