A dominant Karen Khachanov won the first 14 games before surging into his maiden Australian Open quarterfinal on Sunday in a straight sets romp over Japan's outclassed Yoshihito Nishioka.
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The Russian 18th seed swept past his racquet-smashing opponent 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (7/4) on John Cain Arena.
Nishioka, seeded 31, was so out of touch in the opening two sets that he won just 13 points.
In set two, he managed only two points across six games in an embarrassing annihilation.
Khachanov appeared on track to become only the sixth player in Grand Slam history, and the first since 1993, to record a triple bagel win – 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 – before Nishioka finally won the 15th game to huge cheers from the crowd.
The victory put him into the last eight at a Grand Slam for the fifth time. His best result was reaching the semifinals at the US Open last year, where he lost to Casper Ruud.
He will next face either American 29th seed Sebastian Korda or Polish 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
"First two sets, I didn't know what was going on," he said. "You're going with the score, let's say, too easy. Then Yoshi turned it around, pumped the crowd and I tried to stay focused from beginning to end.
"It's not easy to win with this score, three sets, but I'm playing well and really happy to go through," he added.
The Russian, a former world No 8, has won four career titles, all on hard courts, and was simply too good for Nishioka.
He broke the Japanese star straight away then twice more as Nishioka struggled with his first serve and Khachanov attacked the second.
Nishioka hit just three winners in the opening set, while making 12 unforced errors in a 26-minute thrashing.
Things did not improve for him in the next, with Khachanov breaking twice early to go 4-0 clear, with Nishioka destroying his racquet in frustration by repeatedly smashing it to the ground.
The Olympic silver medallist romped through the set in just 20 minutes, but with a rare triple bagel on the cards, Nishioka lifted in set three.
He broke and then held to the delight of the crowd to make a match of it before finally succumbing in a tense tiebreak.
KORDA UPSETS HURKACZ TO REACH MAIDEN GRAND SLAM QUARTERFINAL
Giantkiller Sebastian Korda clawed into a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal with a five set upset of 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz to keep his hopes alive of matching father Petr's Australian Open exploits.
The American 29th seed came out on top of a rollercoaster 10-point deciding tiebreak to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10/7) at Rod Laver Arena.
He will play Russia's Karen Khachanov for a place in the semifinals after the 18th seed crushed Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (7/4).
Korda, whose father Petr won the title in 1998, had produced one of the performances of his career to upset two-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
And he dug deep after a slow start to claim another big-name win.
"Awesome, I couldn't have done it without (the crowd), they pushed me through," he said.
"I wasn't feeling too much energy towards the fourth and the fifth but they picked me up.
"I just tried to stay as calm as I possibly could," he added. "It was a late night match before (against Medvedev) but today was daytime and different conditions. But I'm very happy, the outcome's good."
Defeat was a bitter pill for Hurkacz, who was aiming to become the first Polish man ever to reach the Melbourne Park quarterfinals.
The Pole took immediate charge on a hot day to break and race through the opening set.
But Korda woke up and hauled himself back into the contest, improving his first serve per centage while cutting down on unforced errors.
He worked a break to move 3-2 clear and held on to take the second set.
With Hurkacz on the back foot, the American kept the pressure on and raced into a 4-0 lead in set three, but lost his focus as the fourth set got underway.
The Pole won five games in a row to take the set to a decider, where they went toe-to-toe until the drama-filled tiebreak.
LEHECKA STUNS AUGER-ALIASSIME AS ANOTHER SEED FALLS
Jiri Lehecka stunned Felix Auger-Aliassime to surge into the quarterfinals in only his fifth Grand Slam appearance as yet another seed fell.
The 21-year-old Czech was knocked out in the first round at the four majors last year but was too hot for the sixth-seeded Canadian on Margaret Court Arena, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3).
It was his first defeat ever of a top-10 player and built on his victories over ATP Masters 1000 champions Borna Coric and Cameron Norrie in earlier rounds.
"Honestly, it feels amazing," said Lehecka, who has climbed 70 places in the rankings over the past year to 71.
"It's tough to find the words because what I've been through in the last year and now coming back to Australia.
"After losing in the first round last year, if someone had told me before the tournament that I would be playing like this, I wouldn't have believed them.
"I'm super happy and excited."
He will play the winner of a blockbuster evening clash between Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas and dangerous Italian 15th seed Jannik Sinner.
Tsitsipas is the highest seed left in the draw at three following Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud's early exits and has yet to drop a set.
Sinner is looking for revenge after losing to him in the quarterfinals last year.
Before his exploits at Melbourne Park, Lehecka's biggest splash came last February in Rotterdam.
As a qualifier he advanced to the semifinals with wins over Denis Shapovalov and Lorenzo Musetti before pushing Tsitsipas to three sets.
TSITSIPAS SURVIVES FIVE-SET TEST TO MAKE QUARTERSThird seed Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a huge scare to battle into a third consecutive Australian Open quarterfinal and a showdown with Czech surprise package Jiri Lehecka.
The Greek star extended his win streak this year to eight matches with a gutsy 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over dangerous Italian 15th seed Jannik Sinner on Rod Laver Arena as the clock ticked over four hours.
Victory teed him up with a clash against Lehecka for a place in the semis after the Czech 21-year-old stunned sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3).
That upset put Lehecka into the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time after being knocked out in the first round at all four majors last year.
"It was a long match, I felt like I spent an entire century on this court playing tennis," said Tsitsipas, the highest remaining men's seed.
"What a great night. That was superb, a ripper as they say here.
"I'm really excited to be sharing moments like this on the court, especially in Australia."
Tsitsipas, who lost in the 2022 semifinals to eventual runner-up Daniil Medvedev, is playing for a double prize this year – not only a maiden major title but also the No 1 ranking.
That will be his if he lifts the trophy in Melbourne.
Novak Djokovic, who he cannot meet before the final, can also become the world's top-ranked player should he be crowned for a 10th time.
If neither player wins, Spain's injured Carlos Alcaraz will keep the top spot.
Tsitsipas led Sinner 4-1 in their head-to-heads leading into the match, including victory in the Melbourne quarterfinals last year, but it proved to be tough test for the Greek.
He dropped his first sets of the tournament before fighting to victory.
He stated his intent by breaking Sinner in the first game thanks to a baseline error from the Italian.
Tsitsipas then saved four break points in the next game to keep the advantage and went on to seal the first set.
It went with serve in the second until the Greek pounced for 5-4 with a sizzling cross-court forehand then served it out in 46 minutes to take control.
But Sinner came storming back, with Tsitsipas saving six break points before finally succumbing to fall 3-1 behind and lose the set.
Sinner was fired up and constantly threatening, converting his second break point when Tsitsipas sent a forehand wide to move 2-1 clear in the fourth set.
The Greek star had no answers and it went to a fifth set.
Sinner saved three break points in the fourth game, but when Tsitsipas worked three more on his opponent's next service game, he made no mistake.
The third seed moved 4-2 clear and ultimately got over the line for the win.