Andrey Rublev was in clinical form as he comfortably dispatched American Sebastian Korda 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-4 to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open.
The Russian has been in fine form so far this season, winning all seven of his matches in 2024 as he’s carried his title-winning form from Hong Kong into the first Grand Slam of the season.
“I’m happy to start the year really well, I’m happy to start the year with a title and to be here in the fourth round is, for me, something special,” Rublev said after his win.
“So, we will see what’s going to happen next. I don’t want to think, I just want to play and that’s it.”
Rublev, ranked No 5, will play Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 10 seed, next.
In the previous rounds, the Russian beat Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)) and American Christopher Eubanks (6-4, 6-4, 6-4).
Korda, ranked No 26, won against qualifier Vit Kopriva (6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2) and Frenchman Quentin Halys (6-4, 6-4, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.
Melbourne (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):
- Alexander Zverev vs. Alex Michelsen
- Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniil Medvedev
- Cameron Norrie vs. Casper Ruud
- Grigor Dimitrov vs. Nuno Borges
- Arthur Cazaux vs. Tallon Griekspoor
- Juncheng Shang vs. Carlos Alcaraz
- Ugo Humbert vs. Hubert Hurkacz
- Tommy Paul vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
- Alex De Minaur beat Flavio Cobolli (Q): 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
- Novak Djokovic (1) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry (30): 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
- Adrian Mannarino (20) beat Ben Shelton (16): 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) beat Luca Van Assche: 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
- Taylor Fritz (12) beat Fabian Marozsan: 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
- Jannik Sinner (4) beat Sebastian Baez (26): 6-0, 6-1, 6-3
- Karen Khachanov (15) beat Tomas Machac: 6-4, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5)