MELBOURNE: Andy Murray's brave Australian Open run ground to a halt against Roberto Bautista Agut, the Spaniard fending off the fatigued former world number one 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 in the third round to advance on Saturday.
After back-to-back five-set wins over Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis, a ragged Murray hung tough against the 24th seed but was gradually worn down over the course of the three-and-a-half hour slog at a floodlit Margaret Court Arena.
Novak Djokovic continued his charge towards a 10th Australian Open title with a superb 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to reach the fourth round, but fears about the durability of his injured left hamstring only grew.
The Serbian, who is eyeing a 22nd major to match Rafa Nadal, looked uncertain in his movement in a roller-coaster opening set where he began with a break, squandered three set points at 5-3 and dropped serve late on before edging a thrilling tiebreak.
A heavily-strapped but more aggressive Djokovic emerged from a medical timeout and built pressure with his relentless returns from the back, going up 4-2 as 27th seed Dimitrov hit the net to surrender his serve, and went on to wrap up the second set.
A half-fit Djokovic can still be a handful for most players but the fourth seed looked a little more certain of his mobility in the third set and a double break to start helped him subdue the error-prone Dimitrov who failed to make a late comeback.
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev avoided a third round banana skin in the form of Briton Dan Evans. Red-headed Rublev has found Evans a handful in the past but swept aside the 25th seed 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 with 60 winners on a glorious afternoon at Melbourne Park.
Holger Rune suffered a nasty-looking fall midway through his third-round match against Ugo Humbert on Saturday but the ninth seed showed it will take more than that to keep him down.
A dark horse at the year's first Grand Slam after his Paris Masters final victory over Novak Djokovic in November, the 19-year-old moved into the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) win.
Home favourite Alex De Minaur stepped out of Nick Kyrgios's shadow and stormed into the last 16.
Kyrgios's absence due to injury robbed the tournament of one of its biggest drawcards but Australian number two De Minaur ensured home fans will have someone to cheer for in the second week as he steamrolled Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-1 in front of a heaving centre-court crowd.
In another clash of the day, Tommy Paul wasted little time in reaching the fourth round for the first time. The American overcame countryman Jenson Brooksby 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to set up a clash against Agut.
Meanwhile, Ben Shelton continued his dream debut after he advanced to the fourth with a win over home favourite Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-4.
Shelton cracked the Top 100 for the first time in November 2022, and is now No. 65 in the ATP Live Rankings. His next opponent, JJ Wolf, defeated countryman Michael Mmoh 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 earlier in the day.
In the women's section, 12th seed Belinda Bencic continued her smooth run with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Camila Giorgi.
Karolina Pliskova, renowned for being a former world number one without a Grand Slam title, beat Russian Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-2 in the early match at Rod Laver Arena to book a fourth round spot against Zhang Shuai. China's highest-ranked player Shuai brushed aside American qualifier Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2.
The 23rd-seeded Zhang gained a crucial break in the sixth game of the second set and then ran away with a one-sided victory in 63 minutes.
In the last 16, Zhang joins her compatriot Zhu Lin, who knocked out the sixth seed Maria Sakkari 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-4 in the biggest win of her career.
The 87th-ranked Zhu next plays the 24th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who won the Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013. The 33-year-old Azarenka wound back the clock with an upset third-round victory over the 10th seed Madison Keys 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtova marched into the fourth round with a battling 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over compatriot Marketa Vondrousova.
At 17 years and 273 days, Fruhvirtova is the youngest woman remaining in the draw. Agencies
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