Japanese star Kei Nishikori came from behind to beat Pablo Carreno-Busta of Spain 6(8)-7, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-6(8) in an epic five-hour long men's singles Round of 16 clash at the 2019 Australian Open on Monday.
Nishikori will play the winner of world number one the favourite Novak Djokovic and the 15th seed Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Japanese star Kei Nishikori came from behind to beat Pablo Carreno-Busta of Spain 6(8)-7, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-6(8) in an epic five-hour long men's singles Round of 16 clash at the 2019 Australian Open on Monday.
Nishikori, seeded eighth in the season-opening Grand Slam tournament, was lost the opening set 6(8)-7 in tie-breaker which one hour 18 minutes after both broke each other twice.
The 29-year-old then lost the serve in the third game and found himself trailing 0-2. But he produced one of the greatest fightbacks of his career by winning the next three sets, including two tie-breakers.
Reviving the match, Nishikori won the next set 7-(4)6 which lasted one hour and eight minutes. He then took the fourth set to force a decider. He broke Carreno-Busta in the very-first game of the set, before his own in the fourth. But he took the advantage with a break in the next game, before closing it out on serve, 6-4.
Both the players suffered a break of serve each, but only to prolong the fight. In the fifth-set tie-breaker, Nishikori won 10-8 to set-up a quarter-final date with the winner of world number one the favourite Novak Djokovic and the 15th seed Russian Daniil Medvedev.