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British No.15 seed Jack Draper has become the fifth set Aussie slayer, adding Aleks Vukic to his list of scalps that already included Thanasi Kokkinakis.
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For the second straight round, Draper trailed two sets to one against a local but came all the way back, downing the 28-year-old Vukic 6-4 2-6 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(8).
While Draper melted down late in the third, double faulting twice in a row to hand the world No.68 a break and then demolishing his racquet just before losing set point, he proved more clutch in the fourth and fifth sets.
Vukic did come back from a break down in the decider, but just cracked at a crucial moment in the match tiebreak.
It marked the third consecutive match where Draper came back from two sets to one down to win.
The result was a heartbreaking ending to Vukic’s best ever grand slam performance, as while he didn’t serve for the match – as Kokkinakis did two nights earlier – he came agonisingly close to the last 16 and a date with world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz.
While one Aussie could not advance, another will get his chance on Saturday when Alex de Minaur faces No.31 seed Francisco Cerundolo.
Vukic’s match followed the all-North American battle between Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez, won by the American No.3 seed Gauff 6-4 6-2.
Over on Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic progressed through to the fourth round in straight sets over promising young Czech Tomáš Macháč, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Despite the scoreline, Macháč tested the 37-year-old all the around the court on Friday evening, to which Djokovic responded just as well on most occasions.
The 10-time Australian Open champion will play another Czech on his road to the back end of the Grand Slam, locked in to face Jiri Lehecka after the No.24 seed downed Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets.
Djokovic’s Serbian counterpart Olga Danilovic has taken the court after him to try and upset No.7 seed Jessica Pegula.
Meanwhile on John Cain Arena, the in-form Naomi Osaka unfortunately quit her third-round match with Belinda Bencic.
Osaka, who has now quit mid-match in three straight tournaments as she battles an ongoing ab issue, walked out immediately after dropping the first set in a tiebreak. She had served for the set at 5-3.
“At this moment I really feel for Naomi,” Bencic said on-court.
“I saw her struggling a bit at the end of the set. It’s not the way you’d like the match to end. It was a good match. Hopefully she’ll be fine soon and can play well for the rest of the season.”
Unfortunately, the all-French battle between Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils ended in a walkover, with the latter retiring at the beginning of the fourth set.
Fils managed to jag the first set 6-4, but lost the next two before playing just a single game in the fourth set upon retiring.
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AUSTRALIAN OPEN NIGHT 6 ORDER OF PLAY (All times AEDT)
Rod Laver Arena
From 7pm
No.7 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs No.26 Tomas Machac (CZE)
Olga Danilovic (SRB) vs No.7 Jessica Pegula (USA)
Margaret Court Arena
From 7pm
No.3 Coco Gauff (USA) vs No.30 Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
No.15 Jack Draper (GBR) vs Aleksandar Vukic (AUS)
John Cain Arena
From 5pm
Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs Belinda Bencic (SUI)
No.14 Ugo Humbert (FRA) vs No.20 Arthur Fils (FRA)
