Andrey Rublev swept past Alex de Minaur in a five-set thriller 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 in the fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena and extended his flawless start to the season to 8-0.
Rublev booked a place in the quarters where he will take on in-form Jannik Sinner, who defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, to convert his 10th Grand Slam quarter-final into his first major semi-final on January 24.
Rublev faced the risk of exiting the first major of the year after a dramatic loss in the third-set tie-break. However, he bounced back by breaking the Australian's opening service games in the fourth and fifth sets, securing his 300th match win.
The Russian’s impeccable display in the last two sets made things nearly impossible for the Aussie who only managed to claim three games in total.
Opening up after his win, the 26-year-old revealed his thought process as he came close to losing the tie in the fourth set but eventually triumphed.
“I started to tell to myself, 'you’re going to die today but you will do everything' (in the fourth set)," Rublev said. “And somehow I started to play better and better and I found more energy and I was able to win.”
Rublev then praised De Minaur for the way the Aussie played and did his best to make things difficult for him.
“He’s so fast and the way he move with his legs, the speed was crazy. He was super-tough to play, four hours and I’m just happy to be in a quarter-final," he said.
“I was trying not to think about it (the pain), I was just trying to push myself, I was going to do everything I could – don’t cry, don’t feel sorry for yourself. Stop these things and keep fighting.
“Better not to be inside my head. It’s like a scary movie, a lot of emotions.”