STEFANOS TSITSIPAS survived a compelling five-set battle with Jannik Sinner to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open today.

The Greek, a semi-finalist in three of the last four years and the top-ranked player remaining, has looked a man on a mission since arriving in Melbourne and had not dropped a set prior to this clash.

For two sets he appeared in control against Italian Sinner, seeded 15, but the wheels began to come off in the third and his opponent, who remarkably took only four of the 26 break points he created, fought back to level with some terrific power tennis.

Sinner, who lost an epic five-setter to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open quarter-finals, seemed to have the momentum but lost his way at the wrong moment and Tsitsipas thrilled the many Greek fans packed into the Rod Laver Arena by completing a 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 victory after exactly four hours.

The third seed will now be the favourite to reach the final from the top half in what is becoming the sort of wide-open grand slam draw — a limping Novak Djokovic aside — that men’s tennis has not seen for more than a decade.

There were more shocks today, with Sebastian Korda of the United States following up his upset of Daniil Medvedev by knocking out 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz, while unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka defeated sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Lehecka, who now faces Tsitsipas, got the better of British number one Cameron Norrie in the third round and the 21-year-old is now through to the last eight at a slam for the first time after defeating Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-3 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3).

Korda could not find the same consistently flawless tennis he showed against Medvedev but survived a nailbiting deciding tie-break, clinching a 3-6 6-3 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7) victory with a backhand winner after a 27-shot rally.

The 22-year-old is bidding to follow in the footsteps of his father Petr 25 years after his title at Melbourne Park, while his sisters Jessica and Nelly have both won the Australian Open in golf.

Russia’s Karen Khachanov won the first 14 games of his match against Yoshihito Nishioka before the Japanese player belatedly made a fist of things in a 6-0 6-0 7-6 (4) defeat. Incredibly, 31st seed Nishioka won just two points in the second set.