MELBOURNE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Red-hot Stefanos Tsitsipas and women's number one player Iga Swiatek swept through to the last 16 of the Australian Open on Friday, as China's Zhu Lin stunned sixth seed Maria Sakkari from Greece.
The 87th ranked Zhu provided the biggest upset on day five when she prevailed 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-4 in the biggest win of her career.
In a see-saw encounter, Zhu claimed the decisive break in the ninth game of the final set before sealing her place in the last 16 with an ace.
It continues a spectacular run for 28-year-old Zhu, who had previously never made it past the second round at a Grand Slam since making her debut in 2009.
There was no such drama for men's third seed Tsitsipas of Greece, who easily beat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
With top seeds Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud knocked out in major upsets, Tsitsipas is the highest remaining seed in the men's draw and his confidence is building after winning a seventh straight match to start the year.
He set up a round of 16 clash with 15th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, who produced a remarkable comeback victory to down Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.
"I don't make predictions. I've never been making predictions because the sport that I chose to play is unpredictable," said Tsitsipas, who is on a quest for an elusive Grand Slam title.
"Of course there are favourites. Everyone knows that. But if my mind is not there, doesn't matter who I'm playing."
Sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada defeated Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and next plays Czech Jiri Lehecka who upset 11th seed Cameron Norrie from Britain in a five-set thriller.
But seventh seed Daniil Medvedev, a finalist in Melbourne the past two years, was knocked out by 29th seed Sebastian Korda of the United States 7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (4).
In the women's part, Swiatek of Poland underlined her strong title favoritism with a thrashing of qualifier Cristina Bucsa of Spain, where she dropped just one game in the 55-minute rout.
"I feel I'm more and more confident since day one here," she said.
"I'm not even talking about matches, but also practices. I feel like I've done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court."
The Pole, a three-time Grand Slam champion but seeking a maiden triumph in Melbourne, set up an intriguing clash with Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who knocked out last year's Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins in three sets.
"(Rybakina) really is a solid player. Since we played juniors, I knew that she's kind of going in the right direction. With her serve, she can do a lot," Swiatek said of the looming match-up.
Third seed Jessica Pegula's strong form continued after claiming her seventh consecutive straight-sets win with a 6-0, 6-2 thrashing of Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
The American next faces resurgent 20th seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, who is showing the type of irresistible form that powered her to the French Open title in 2021.
Seventh seed Coco Gauff easily defeated fellow American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2 to set up a clash with the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia.
Expectations are growing on 18-year-old Gauff, who is seen as a successor to legendary compatriot Serena Williams.
Strong favorite Novak Djokovic and women's fourth seed Caroline Garcia of France will be in round three action on Saturday, while China's top seeded player Zhang Shuai meets American qualifier Katie Volynets. ■
