Australia's Alex de Minaur has lost in five sets to Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev in their fourth-round Australian Open showdown.
After four hours and 14 minutes on Rod Laver Arena, Rublev eliminated the last local hope in the singles draw with a 6-4, 6-7(5/7), 6-7(4/7), 6-3, 6-0 win.
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.
Look back at all the action from Melbourne Park in our blog below and check out the full scores with our ScoreCentre.
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Alex de Minaur (10) vs Andrey Rublev (5)
We'll leave it there
A disappointing night to see the last Aussie singles hope go down, but what a contest we were treated to tonight.
Andrey Rublev was a worthy winner, but he has one hell of a task ahead of him in the quarters against Jannik Sinner, who is still yet to drop a set.
Here are the other results we saw today, as we got four singles quarterfinals confirmed…
Another heartbreaking loss for Alex de Minaur at his home slam
This is the third Australian Open in a row for Alex de Minaur where he's exited in the fourth round, and he still has just one major quarterfinal to his name.
In 2022 he lost in straights to Jannik Sinner as the 32nd seed, and last year got taken down in three by eventual champion Novak Djokovic, but this one might hurt the most because he came in with so much expectation around him.
This time around he was newly minted in the top 10, fresh off a win over Djokovic and really carrying the hopes of the nation.
Then to go two sets to one up, only to have it ripped away with those early breaks in the fourth and fifth sets, and then the final frame was just a bizarre romp with Andrey Rublev swinging from the hip and nailing everything as his legs failed him.
Hopefully de Minaur uses this as a launching pad for a great year to come.
This one will sting, but he's still only 24 years old.
Andrey Rublev knocks Alex de Minaur out of the Australian Open in a thriller
Alex de Minaur is out of the Australian Open after a five-set classic with Andrey Rublev — the Russian fifth seed winning 6-4, 6-7(5/7), 6-7(4/7), 6-3, 6-0.
It was a brilliant contest lasting four hours and 14 minutes.
"Two days ago I said 'I hope we gonna [play] a great match [that] spectators will enjoy. Now I regret [that] because I didn't expect it would be that 'enjoyable'," Rublev says on court.
"[At 2-1 down] I started to tell myself 'no, you're going to die today and do everything [to win]."
Jim Courier asks Rublev about the rollercoaster ridden by the fiery Russian…
"Better not to be inside my head. It's like a scary movie. A lot of emotions up and down."
And on quarterfinal opponent Jannik Sinner…
"Jannik is one more player having an unreal season last year and already [has] amazing results this year.
"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."
Andrey Rublev is serving for the match
We're over four hours now and the big Russian is trying to keep points short.
If de Minaur can extend points and the match, anything could happen at the other end of the court.
De Minaur saves a match point at 40-30 with some superb defence and makes it to deuce.
And he takes control from the back of the court to get himself to a break point.
But Rublev bangs in an ace to get back to deuce.
Short points are Rublev's bread and butter right now. Big serve, big forehand. De Minaur needs to get him into rallies.
Back to deuce as Rublev nets a backhand.
That big serve-big forehand double act works a treat for Rublev to get back to deuce.
Another break-point chance goes begging for the Australian as Rublev keeps drilling deep groundstrokes.
But Rublev gets back to match point with an off-forehand winner.
Andrey Rublev breaks for a third time to reach 5-0 while cramping up
Lleyton Hewitt is trying to get de Minaur's attention to tell his charge that Rublev is battling some cramp in his right leg.
Rublev's camp sent down a bunch of salt packets for him to put in his water, which is supposed to counteract cramps.
Hewitt is trying to tell de Minaur to move the Russian around the court, but de Minaur has struggled to do that all night.
And Rublev is still not missing from the back of the court and rips a forehand return off a second serve to get his third break of the set.
Andrey Rublev breaks de Minaur again and the Russian is on a roll now
Alex de Minaur jumped out to 30-0, and had a game point at 40-30, but Andrey Rublev refuses to lie down and is still dictating from the back of the court with five winners and no unforced errors to start this set.
De Minaur is down two breaks and Rublev will serve at 0-3.
Rublev under control
We need a Rublev meltdown for a few games..
- Mike
I think Rublev is back from his brief foray with the red mist. He seems focused and ready to rip winners.
Alex de Minaur needs something special to turn this around.
Alex de Minaur is broken to start the fifth set
The worst possible start for the second set in a row, with Andrey Rublev breaking Alex de Minaur to love in the opening game of the decider.
Rublev is drilling his forehand now and painting tramlines and baselines.
And that's 12 straight points for the Russian as he reaches 2-0.
Alex de Minaur looking fresher
We've seen a fair bit of the above from Andrey Rublev, and we know Alex de Minaur's ability to run all day long is one of his great strengths.
"I don't think fitness is going to be a problem. He looks still physically very strong," Lleyton Hewitt tells Channel Nine.
In saying that, Rublev just played some of his best tennis since the first set in that frame.
Andrey Rublev sends us to a fifth and deciding set
A straightforward hold to love for Andrey Rublev and he takes us to a fifth set on Rod Laver Arena.
Alex de Minaur will have to go the distance against the fifth seed if he wants to reach the Australian open quarterfinals for the first time.
Rublev holds serve in brilliant game
One of the best games of this match, maybe of the tournament.
Both players pulling out some phenomenal clutch shot-making, and both save game points.
Alex de Minaur's court coverage is still prompting looks of bemusement from Andrey Rublev, but the big Russian eventually holds for a 2-5 lead.
It's just one break, but Alex de Minaur will have to hold, break and hold just to keep this set alive.
Alex de Minaur breaks back, but he can't consolidate
It looked like another regulation hold for Andrey Rublev as he forced two errors from de Minaur to reach 30-0. But the Australian rattles off four straight points to win the break back.
He still needed to hold serve to get back to 3-3, but the Russian has broken straight back for 4-2 instead.
Are we going five sets? Surely, right?
Jannik Sinner is surely loving this
As we watch Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev beat the tar out of each other out here, it's worth remembering Jannik Sinner (aka the guy the winner of this match will have to face) has won all four of his matches in straight sets.
He also hasn't been on court for longer than 2:34 in any match so far. This match is almost an hour longer than that and not even at the halfway mark of the fourth set.
Andrey Rublev gets the first break of the fourth set
The Russian's emotions were boiling over in that third set, but he's not losing control in the rallies and he's broken at the first opportunity to reach 2-0 with the early advantage in the fourth set.
Rublev's power game gets him a service hold and takes him to 3-0 as we pass the 200-minute mark.
Alex de Minaur is potentially one set away from the Australian Open quarterfinals
The Australian world number 10 wins another tiebreak to take a two-sets-to-one lead over Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
After missing out on set points during the set proper, he's once again dug deep to win the tiebreak and he's now just one set away from his first Australian Open quarterfinal.
De Minaur wins the third-set tiebreak
Alex de Minaur is serving first.
1-0 Rublev with the immediate mini-break, drilling a backhand passing shot across the approaching Alex de Minaur.
1-1 back on serve as Rublev sends a backhand just long.
2-1 de Minaur with the mini-break: Rublev clips the net cord a couple of times before slapping a forehand into the net and threatening to snap his racquet over his knee.
2-2 de Minaur on serve: De Minaur follows suit, dumping a forehand into the net.
3-2 de Minaur on serve: Beautifully redirected forehand down the line from de Minaur. He follows it in and Rublev can't get it back.
3-3 on serve: Rublev rips an off-forehand winner to take us to the change of ends.
4-3 de Minaur with the mini-break: Rublev hits the net cord and de Minaur charges forward to get it back, but then de Minaur gets even more luck from his side, with a volley bouncing on top of the net twice before dribbling over.
5-3 de Minaur: Rublev sprays a ball way long and he's frustrated.
6-3 de Minaur: Three set points for the Australian as Rublev sends another forehand long. Rublev whacks his racquet on the ground and gives it a close look to see if it's broken.
6-4 de Minaur: Ripping inside-in forehand winner from Rublev elicits applause from the Australian.
Alex de Minaur wins the third set with a stunning, running backhand passing shot down the line!
Rublev fights off a set point to force a tiebreak
Alex de Minaur's speed and ability to attack from impossible positions forces Rublev to paint the lines, and he does so with aplomb as he gets himself out of trouble to reach 6-6 and force another tiebreak.
A Mexican wave between games at 6-5 in the third set. Really, guys?
Andrey Rublev doesn't look too thrilled as the players are forced to wait for the crowd to finish their wave that started between games.
Umpire Fergus Murphy tries to call them off, but it finally stops of its own accord.
Maybe wait for the break between sets for that sort of thing?
Rublev holds serve to stay in the set
The Russian's forehand is really humming again as he holds from 40-15 to make it 5-5.
But de Minaur holds his own serve, forcing Rublev back under pressure, serving at 5-6 with new balls.