Defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal and twice winner Novak Djokovic are one victory away from renewing their rivalry in the final with both expected to get through their semis on Friday.
Factbox on Rafael Nadal, who beat Dominic Thiem to win his 12th French Open title:
Novak Djokovic endured a fierce challenge to his Melbourne Park reign before overhauling Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to clinch an eighth Australian Open crown and reclaim the world number one ranking. While Rafa Nadal rules Roland Garros with 12 titles, Djokovic holds sway in the title match at Rod Laver Arena having never lost a final in Melbourne Park.
Nick Kyrgios lost his temper and blew a two-set lead but still managed to win a five-set thriller to storm into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 10-8 victory over Karen Khachanov in the super tiebreaker on Saturday. The 24-year-old Australian raged at the umpire, raged at himself and raged at his box but ultimately prevailed 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 6-7(7), 7-6(8) in the longest match of his career to set up a last-16 date with 19-times Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
The 31-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion had not played a competitive match since losing to Sam Querrey in last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals and opted to have right hip surgery five months ago.
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday
Images from Day 1 of the US Open in New York, on Monday.
There was no rain break, no twilight five-set drama and no Wimbledon trophy on offer on Friday but none of that bothered ageless Swiss maestro Roger Federer. The only thing that mattered to the 20-time Grand Slam champion was that, unlike in his last grasscourt duel with Rafael Nadal 11 years ago, he had won the "crazy last game" which sealed his passage into a 12th Wimbledon final.
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The Australian Open will lose one of its giant killers when South Korean Chung Hyeon meets American Tennys Sandgren in an unlikely quarter-final showdown at the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.
Beaten in just over two hours, Nadal won barely a third of the match's points, was broken five times and conjured only a single break point in the third set, which the Serb saved.
Images from Day 6 of the French Open in Paris on Friday.
Federer looked more relieved than overjoyed when Tiafoe's forehand found the net on match point to keep his hopes of a 20th grand slam title alive.
'We are all members of a tennis paradise that this year improbably promises to last forever -- and we owe it in no small part to the two champions' parents,' notes Rahul Jacob.
World number one Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Sunday's U.S. Open final, but the top-seeded Serb expects hard work ahead when he meets Stan Wawrinka at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Defending champion Djokovic, who became the third man to hold all four grand slam singles titles at once after his triumph at Roland Garros in June, owns a 19-4 career head-to-head advantage over the Swiss third seed.
German seventh seed Alexander Zverev recovered from a slow start to beat former champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the Australian Open on Wednesday to reach his first career Grand Slam semi-final. Swiss Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slams at Melbourne Park in 2014, broke Zverev twice early in the opening set to breeze through the opening set but the 22-year-old German came roaring back into the contest.
Defending champion Djokovic fired his 15th ace on match point to defeat Querrey but his serve had been an issue earlier in their second-round encounter.
'It's a positive start with a good result. If I do months without playing an official match, it's always a little bit more difficult.'
Rafael Nadal's decision to skip the US Open because of health concerns has added another twist to the intriguing three-way battle for the most career men's Grand Slam titles and, in many eyes, the title of Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). Had the 34-year-old Spaniard managed to retain the title he won in a five-set thriller against Daniil Medvedev last year, he would have joined Roger Federer at the top of the list with 20 titles. Instead, his decision has cleared the path for 33-year-old Novak Djokovic to edge to within one of Nadal's Grand Slam tally with a fourth title at Flushing Meadows and 18 in total.
Two errors from his favourite backhand and a double-fault opened the door for Tsonga to break back and the Frenchman then swept through the final three games, sealing the 16th five-set victory of his career with a textbook serve and volley winner.
Tournament officials said there was no heat rule in effect on Friday for the first time in three days, with cloud cover expected to bring cooler temperatures.
Images from Day 7 of the 2019 French Open in Paris on Saturday.
Big serving Berrettini is having a breakout year, with two titles under his belt, one on grass and one on clay, and is now on the brink of becoming the first Italian male grand slam finalist in more than 40 years.
Images from Day 3 of the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros, in Paris, on Tuesday.
The Spaniard, who is renowned for his strict on-court routines, complained about the noise of the rowdy audience at his match, the din amplified by the closed roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium to protect the players from rain.
The former world number four, looking for a first Grand Slam title having been US Open runner-up in 2014, blasted Kyrgios off court as he raced through the first set in 16 minutes.
Images from Day 3 of the 2020 US Open in New York, on Wednesday.
Eleven-times champion Rafael Nadal booked his place in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open semi-finals by beating German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-5 in a hard-fought match on Friday.
British pair Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot defeated Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in four sets in Ottawa to give Britain a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday
World number one Novak Djokovic fended off a resurgent Rafael Nadal 7-5, 7-6 (4) in a pulsating battle on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open.
Pablo Cuevas and playing partner Marcel Granollers held a sit-down protest at Wimbledon after they received warnings for threatening to urinate in a can and blasting a ball out of the court when the Uruguayan was refused a toilet break.
Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won the Wimbledon women's doubles title for the first time, while Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Brazil's Marcelo Melo won the Wimbledon men's doubles crown.
In last year's quarter-finals at the All England Club, Federer saved three match points before edging out Cilic in five sets and the closeness of that match is comforting for the Croat.
The 'Big Four' has become a 'Big Three' with the shock exit of Rafael Nadal, and the remaining trio of Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will all be aiming to prove their elite credentials in Wednesday's quarter-finals.
Roger Federer's trademark serve-and-volley game makes him the bookmakers' favourite to seal his ninth Wimbledon title this year.
Spain's Rafael Nadal was at his dominant best against Pablo Carreno Busta on Saturday, brushing aside his compatriot 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to move into the fourth round at the Australian Open. Images from Day 6 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Karolina Pliskova became the first woman to advance when the big-hitting Czech curbed her attacking instincts to beat compatriot Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 and record her second win against a single loss in White Group play.
Federer, meanwhile, became the first man to lose a Wimbledon singles final after holding match points since 1948 when John Bromwich failed to convert three of them against Bob Falkenburg.
The 20-year-old became the youngest semi-finalist at Melbourne Park since American Andy Roddick, also 20, at the 2003 tournament.
