A 50th match-up between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic looms large at the Australian Open after the Swiss maestro cast aside some John Millman-induced fatigue to move into the last eight.
Federer was noticeably rusty after his third-round thriller against the Australian went to a match tiebreak but came out on top of Marton Fucsovics 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 on Sunday.
Another round of one of tennis's most storied rivalries looks on the cards for the semi-finals with Djokovic moving through to the last eight after a win over Diego Schwartzman.
But first Federer has another kind of tennis - a clash with the most aptly named player in the tournament, Tennys Sandgren.
The American and Federer have never played but the 20-time grand slam champion will be a red-hot favourite against the world No.100.
For his part Djokovic must get past a revitalised Milos Raonic if he's to have a chance of improving his 26-23 record over the 20-time grand slam champion.
Federer, who won through to his 57th grand slam quarter-final, admitted feeling somewhat heavy of leg after his four hour and three minute marathon against the Queenslander.
"It was a tough start," Federer said.
"I thought that Marton played clean. I struggled ... it was the rest of the Millman match of course. I got beat down the baseline (against Millman) and it took my confidence away a little bit.
"The morning after John's match and this morning, I lie in bed for an hour, I was like, when are we going to stand up, one, two, three and how do I feel?
"That's almost how it felt. But I'm good and I was able to recover and play a good match."
Australian Associated Press
