Can anyone deny Novak Djokovic a record 10th Australian Open men’s singles title?
Only two other top-10 seeds remain in the quarter-finals, with 2022 champion Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud among those who will face early exits.
Of those still standing in Melbourne, 21-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic is the only clear winner.
Although he has been hampered by a hamstring injury, he has dropped just one set in four matches as he looks to make up for lost time after missing last year’s tournament.
The former world number one, expelled after his visa was canceled in 2022, has not lost a match at the Australian Open since 2018.
Can anyone stop it this year?
Andrei Rublev
Rublev, the fifth seed, will be the next to try, when he takes on Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
The Russian came from 5-0 down in a final set tie-break to beat 19-year-old Dane Holger Rune in the fourth round.
Rublev, 25, is aiming to reach a first Grand Slam semi-final but has lost in straight sets in two of his three previous encounters with Djokovic.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Greece’s third seed Tsitsipas is the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw and has reached the semi-finals in Melbourne in three of the past four years.
The 2021 Roland-Garros runner-up, 24, had won 11 successive sets before surviving a response from Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.
Jiri Lehecka
Tsitsipas awaits 21-year-old Czech Lehecka, who had not won a main draw match at a Grand Slam before this tournament, in the quarter-finals.
Knocked out in the first round on his debut at all four Grand Slams last year, he has already caused several upsets in Melbourne by knocking out 21st seed Borna Coric, 11th seed Cameron Norrie and sixth seed Felix Auger – Aliassime.
Karen Khachanov
Russian 18th seed Khachanov, 26, reached the last eight of the Australian Open in style, recording consecutive bagel sets in a 6-0 6-0 7-6 (7-4) win over Yoshihito Nishioka.
Having never made it past the third round at Melbourne Park, Khachanov is aiming to reach his fourth major quarter-final after recording his best Grand Slam result at last year’s US Open by reaching the last four.
Sebastien Korda
Khachanov will next face American 29th seed Korda, following the 22-year-old’s marvelous run to the quarters.
Korda, the son of former Tour-level players Petr and Regina and brother of former women’s world number one golfer Nelly, beat 2022 runner-up Daniil Medvedev in the third round before seeing off 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the last 16 .
Ben Shelton
American Shelton, 20, is the underdog at this year’s Australian Open, reaching the quarter-finals on his first trip outside the United States.
He already broke his father’s Grand Slam record after Bryan Shelton reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1994, but the tour debutant has spoken of the freedom he feels having already exceeded expectations in Melbourne.
Shelton, ranked 89th in the world, will face Tommy Paul in an all-American quarter-final.
Tommy Paul
The 2023 Australian Open is already an unforgettable moment for Paul, who is enjoying his longest Grand Slam run ever having passed the third round.
The 25-year-old world number 35 beat tour veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets in the fourth round – his second triumph over a top seed in Melbourne after beating another Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in five sets.
