MELBOURNE: Grigor Dimitrov played to 2:00am on Sunday as he beat Richard Gasquet to reach the Australian Open’s last 16, recalling the tournament’s infamous late — or early — finishes.
Play got underway at two minutes to midnight and Dimitrov took two hours, two minutes to oust Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, following Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams into the fourth round.
The timing had echoes of the 2008 clash between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, which started at 11:47pm and wrapped up at a bleary-eyed 4:34am the following day.
In 2012, the men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal started before 8:00pm and went on for a record five hours and 53 minutes, finishing at 1:40am.
Scattered groups of fans at Rod Laver Arena sipped coffee and huddled in towels against the early-hours chill as Dimitrov broke his French opponent’s serve five times.
“Lately I’ve been struggling with my sleeping so I’ve been going to bed so late, so tonight it’s 2:00am and I’m feeling great,” smiled the 15th-seeded Bulgarian. “It’s going to take a while to fall asleep so I might go and practice again.”
Earlier Nadal needed all his trademark grit to grind out a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2 win over 19-year-old Alexander Zverev, widely tipped as a future number one.
It means Nadal, 30, joins fellow veteran Roger Federer in the last 16 of a contest missing defending champion Novak Djokovic after his stunning defeat to Denis Istomin.
“Everybody knows how good Alexander is,” said Nadal, who will play France’s Gael Monfils in the fourth round. “He’s the future of our sport, and the present.”
Williams, by contrast, had no such trouble as she brushed off fellow American Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 6-3 to maintain her charge towards a 23rd Grand Slam title.
Williams, back after an injury break at the end of 2016, has been in brilliant form and she will take some stopping as she zeroes in on Steffi Graf’s Open-era record.
The next player to take on Williams will be Barbora Strycova, who ousted France’s Caroline Garcia to earn a shot at the world number two.
“Obviously I’m here for one reason,” said Williams.
Elsewhere 117th-ranked Istomin built on his win over Djokovic by beating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16 for the first time, where he will play Dimitrov.