Stefanos Tsitsipas will not be repeating his heroics from the Australian Open 12 months ago after losing in the third round to Milos Raonic.
The Greek captivated Melbourne last year with his run to the semi-finals, including victory over Roger Federer in the fourth round.
But big-serving Canadian Raonic, who has endured wretched luck with injuries over the last few years, was resurgent and thoroughly deserved his 7-5 6-4 7-6 (2) victory.
🄶🄸🄰🄽🅃 🅂🄻🄰🅈🄴🅁 ⚔️@milosraonic upsets sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5 6-4 7-6(2) to advance to the 2nd week at the #AusOpen for the 7th time. #AO2020 pic.twitter.com/CdzoL5riQc — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2020
Raonic will next face 2018 finalist Marin Cilic, who is unseeded this year but enjoying a fine tournament, with his latest victory coming in five sets over Roberto Bautista Agut.
There were no problems, though, for defending champion Novak Djokovic, who produced a serving masterclass to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 6-2 6-2.
The second seed hit 17 aces and lost just eight points on serve during the match, seven of them in the third set.
Djokovic, who has former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic among his team, said: "I love playing on the court. I like the conditions. I'm starting to feel very, very comfortable and compact on the court. I'm going to try to keep that going."
"It's more than a performance reason for me, it's a lifestyle."@DjokerNole on the goodness of greens 🥦🥬🍏#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xS6gbYPkry — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2020
In the fourth round, Djokovic will face 14th seed Diego Schwartzman, who beat Dusan Lajovic 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7).
Hungary's Marton Fucsovics continued his fine tournament with a 6-1 6-1 6-4 victory over Tommy Paul while Tennys Sandgren, who reached the quarter-finals two years ago, defeated fellow American Sam Querrey 6-4 6-4 6-4.
