Feisty Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova scrapped like a streetfighter to grind down two-time champion Victoria Azarenka and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Monday.
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Cibulkova, beaten in last year's final by Li Na, weathered the inevitable comeback by the Belarusian blaster and ran her ragged in a match of the highest quality to earn the 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win.
The pint-sized 25-year-old blasted 44 winners and broke Azarenka twice in the deciding set, sealing it when her opponent netted after two hours and 10 minutes.
Cibulkova will play Serena Williams for a place in the semi-finals.
Serena avenges French Open loss
Serena Williams avenged last year's French Open loss to Garbine Muguruza, overhauling the hard-hitting Spaniard 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
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The 24th seed Muguruza stunned Williams in the second round at Roland Garros and another upset looked on the cards as the rising 21-year-old tore through the first set with a barrage of winners from the baseline.
Top seed Williams woke up and her serve, so often her saviour, became almost impenetrable.
After saving six break points in a marathon second game of the deciding set, Williams then broke Muguruza twice before sealing the match when her opponent blasted a forehand long.
Wawrinka exacts revenge on Garcia-Lopez
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka avenged his early exit at last year's French Open with a 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to book his place in the Melbourne Park quarter-finals.
The fourth-seeded Swiss lost to Garcia-Lopez in the first round at Roland Garros in 2014 and did not have it easy against the 31-year-old Spaniard this time around either.
Wawrinka had to overcome a 5-0 deficit in the fourth-set tiebreak and saved five set points with some booming returns.
Keys opens door to first quarter-final
Madison Keys advanced to her first grand slam quarter-final and underlined her pure hitting potential with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over compatriot and namesake Madison Brengle.
Brengle had said before the match the pair had joked 'there can be only one' Madison if they ever met each other, with the clash also the first time since 2002 that two American women not named Williams had met this deep in a Grand Slam.
The 19-year-old Keys, who destroyed the hard-hitting two-times Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round on Saturday, was equally as destructive against her 24-year-old compatriot, hammering 38 winners in the victory.
Nishikori grinds down Ferrer to reach quarters
Kei Nishikori matched his career-best performance at Melbourne Park by grinding down David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Spaniard Ferrer's modus operandi has been to drag opponents into endless rallies until they succumb via fatigue or a loss of focus, but Nishikori showed himself up for the scrap and won most of the longer exchanges.
Nishikori blew two match points but closed out the third when Ferrer netted a forehand to seal the win in two hours and six minutes.
Japan's number one will meet defending champion Stan Wawrinka for a place in the semi-finals.
Raonic reaches first Australian Open quarters
Milos Raonic struck a blow for the next generation of male players by felling Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3 to reach his first Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.
Eighth seed Raonic became only the second Canadian to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park, nearly 50 years after Michael Belkin achieved the feat in 1968.
In a battle of big servers, Lopez coolly saved two match points in the fourth set tiebreak before sending the contest into a decider but double-faulted in the eighth game of the final set to hand Raonic the initiative.
Raonic closed it out on the third match point when Lopez pushed a shot wide.
