Melbourne, Jan 20 (UNI) From a two-set deficit, Jannik Sinner turned his showdown on a dime without a smidge of fuss by defeating Marton Fucsovics 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-0 here on Friday.
The 15th seed was comfortable gliding under the radar, despite being the only man to have reached the fourth round in each of the past six majors.
He follows Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as just the fifth man to notch six or more Grand Slam fourth-round appearances in a row in the Open Era.
Sinner's three outings at this year's Australian Open, which included lopsided defeats of Kyle Edmund and Tomas Etcheverry, all took place in day session away from the hype and glare of a prime-time night clash.
Sinner earned a chance to avenge his quarter final defeat at Melbourne Park last year to Stefanos Tsitsipas next.
That clash was destined for the brighter lights of a blockbuster time slot, AO reported.
That is about as close as Sinner comes to subtly putting an opponent on notice.
Tsitsipas was not oblivious to the improvements Sinner has made, despite a knee injury that derailed part of the Italian's season.
After reaching his third Australian Open semifinal in four years to start last season, the Greek's Grand Slam season nose-dived, with fourth, third and first-round exits in succession.
It was distinct from two classic five-set quarterfinal defeats Sinner was a part of in the second half of the year – against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon and Carlos Alcaraz at Flushing Meadows.
The latter was hailed as one of the highest-level showdowns all year, even if it was a tough loss to swallow. UNI BDN SSP