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- Switzerland鈥檚 Belinda Bencic, the sixth seed, won only one game against Estonia鈥檚 Anett Kontaveit, the world No. 31, as she went down 6-0, 6-1
MELBOURNE: Home favorite Nick Kyrgios went five sets to ensure an Australian Open showdown with Rafael Nadal on Saturday as a series of shocks caused carnage in the women鈥檚 draw. Kyrgios survived the longest match of his career to beat Russia鈥檚 Karen Khachanov 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (10/8), collapsing on his back after the fifth-set tie-breaker.
鈥淭hat was insane 鈥� I鈥檝e got no words to how I鈥檓 feeling right now,鈥� he said, after the 4hr 26min marathon marked by his trademark tweeners and exchanges with the umpire.
鈥淭his is just epic man, I don鈥檛 even know what鈥檚 going on. My legs feel about 40 kilos each.鈥�
The outspoken Aussie now heads into a last-16 clash with Nadal, with whom he has history after calling him 鈥渟uper salty鈥� following criticism from the Spaniard last year.
鈥淲hatever happens between us, he鈥檚 an amazing player, he鈥檚 arguably the greatest of all time,鈥� said Kyrgios.
Top seed Nadal had a comparatively easy ride against his Davis Cup teammate Pablo Carreno Busta, racing through 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in what he called his 鈥渂est match of the tournament so far.鈥�
While the men鈥檚 Big Three of Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are all still alive, it鈥檚 a different story in the women鈥檚 competition where six of the top 10 seeds crashed out in the third round.
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Nick Kyrgios now heads into a last-16 clash with Rafael Nadal.
After Serena Williams and title-holder Naomi Osaka fell by the wayside on Friday, second seed Karolina Pliskova bombed on Saturday with a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) defeat to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
鈥淚 was about 40 percent today of my game,鈥� lamented the Czech.
Switzerland鈥檚 Belinda Bencic, the sixth seed, won only one game against Estonia鈥檚 Anett Kontaveit, the world No. 31, as she went down 6-0, 6-1.
And a resurgent Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Major-winner, thrashed fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-2. Tenth seed Madison Keys lost to Maria Sakkari on Friday.
鈥淚 was very concentrated and focused on what I wanted to do, it all went fast my way,鈥� said Muguruza, who raced through the first set in just 23 minutes.
Croatian 19th seed Donna Vekic also crumbled to lower-ranked opposition when she lost 7-5, 6-3 to Poland鈥檚 Iga Swiatek, who is returning from a stress fracture in her foot.
However, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep stayed on course with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan鈥檚 Yulia Putintseva.