Novak Djokovic will bid for a 44th grand slam semi-final when he takes on fifth seed Andrey Rublev at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night.
Djokovic – fresh off a straight-sets demolition of Australian Alex de Minaur – holds a 2-1 record against the Russian and is chasing his 39th consecutive win in Australia and a 10th major in Melbourne.
Rublev will be appearing in his sixth grand slam quarterfinal but is yet to make a semi-final.
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‘Took me 10 f***** years to get over it’ | 01:53
“I know that Novak is a very tough player to beat, especially on the slams,” Rublev told reporters ahead of the match.
“He has the best experience to win these kind of matches. He‘s one of the best in history.
“The only chance I have is if I play my best tennis, just fight for every ball, and that‘s it. That’s the only chance.”
Rublev’s lone win against Djokovic came in the latter’s home country of Serbia, on clay, while Djokovic has beaten Rublev handily in the two times they’ve met on hard court, with both coming in the ATP Finals.
The winner of the match will face American Tommy Paul, who is through to his first major semi-final after defeating countryman Ben Shelton during the Wednesday day session.’
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 10 – ORDER OF PLAY (All times AEDT)
Quarter-finals
Rod Laver Arena
11am
Magda Linette (POL) def. [30] Karolína Plíšková (CZE) 6-3, 7-5
Not before 1pm
[5] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) def. Donna Vekic (CRO) 6-3, 6-2
Not before 2.30pm
Tommy Paul (USA) def. Ben Shelton (USA) 7-6(6), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Night session from 7.30pm
[5] Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs [4] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
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