Defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner is through to the quarter-finals, albeit after surviving a scare as he admitted to "not feeling well".
A routine opening set had all the makings of a comfortable victory for the Italian, but Sinner struggled physically thereafter, walking gingerly in sporadic periods.
Despite not performing at his peak, Sinner strolled home to secure a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 win and keep his hopes of claiming back-to-back titles at Melbourne Park alive.
Leading 3-2 in the third set, the world No.1 called for a lengthy medical timeout, leaving the court for treatment.
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When asked about his physical issues, Sinner opened up about what was causing him problems and shed light on how the medical timeout aided him.
"I was not feeling really well," he confirmed. "I think we saw that today, I was struggling physically. Came here as late as possible. I knew that it was going to be very, very difficult today. Playing against a tough opponent, but also playing against myself a little bit. I knew this before. I tried to handle the situation on the court as good as I could, which I think today I handled as well as possible.
"I talked with the doctor before going on the court. I had a little checkup. It was a bit helpful. I at least felt slightly better when I went back on court. I felt like the face looked a little bit better, the colour was a little bit back."
In his on-court interview with Jim Courier, he shared that he did not have an opportunity to warm-up throughout the day, with illness taking over.
A bizarre moment occurred in the second game of the fourth set when Sinner's crunching 199km/h serve broke the bottom of the net, resulting in a 20-minute delay.
The 23-year-old confessed the temporary pause offered him extra time to refocus and recover from a physical standpoint.
"It was very helpful today. Obviously nobody was expecting this kind of thing," Sinner said.
"It helped me. I was lucky today that, this point, 20 minutes off court, trying to get back physically, putting some cold water on my head, it was very helpful. It was big, big luck to me today."
Sinner will either face Australia's Alex de Minaur or unseeded American Alex Michelsen on Wednesday.
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