Friendship will be put on hold when Australian top seed Ashleigh Barty hunts revenge over her quarterfinal vanquisher from last year, Petra Kvitova, on Day 9 at Rod Laver Arena.
After falling to the Czech at the same stage last year, Barty went on to capture her maiden major at Roland Garros and finished the season with the No.1 ranking to boot.
Her quest to end a 42-year wait for the next Australian champion at home will ratchet up a notch when she meets the dual Wimbledon champion.
While Kvitova holds a 4-3 advantage in their head-to-head ledger, Barty has won every showdown since that loss on home soil.
Still, it was a defeat that lingered longer than most.
“I love Petra [but] let's hope she doesn't break my heart,” Barty said.
“I'm just excited I get another opportunity in a quarterfinal of a Grand Slam. You don't get those every week, so I'm really excited.”
Barty became the first local to reach back-to-back Australian Open quarterfinals since Wendy Turnbull in 1984 with a 6-3 1-6 6-4 victory over Alison Riske in blustery conditions on Sunday night.
Following her trouncing of Barty at the same stage last year, Kvitova went on to reach her third major final, where she fell in a thriller to Naomi Osaka.
On Sunday, the No.7 seed surged home against Maria Sakkari in an atmosphere she likened to a soccer match, with raucous pockets of Greek fans.
Against Barty, she is prepared for a more uniformly vocal crowd willing on the home charge.
“Ash, obviously we have played many times. We played here last year in the quarters,” Kvitova said. “I like her. She's a great person … She has to have such a big pressure on her.
“She's dealing with it like probably nobody else. That's really something why she is deserving to be No.1 and won a Grand Slam … Sharing a court with her, it's always a pleasure. Doesn't matter what the score will be, but will be nice.”
The winner is guaranteed to meet a first-time slam semifinalist when rising Russian-born American Sofia Kenin squares off against surprise quarterfinalist Ons Jabeur.
The 14th seed had slipped under the radar in the wake of 15-year-old compatriot Coco Gauff’s fearless run to the fourth round.
But after stamping out the teenager’s push for a quarterfinal berth, the 21-year-old Kenin will meet Tunisian Jabeur for the fifth time. Kenin leads that series 3-1.
Jabeur reached the last eight at a slam for the first time after quashing the hopes of Serena Williams’ conqueror, China’s Qiang Wang, on Sunday. The 25-year-old has had a remarkable run at Melbourne Park, having beaten three straight former top-tenners in the previous three rounds in Johanna Konta, Caroline Garcia and retiring Dane, Caroline Wozniacki.
The first of the men’s singles semifinalists will also be decided on Tuesday when seven-time champion Novak Djokovic meets resurgent Canadian Milos Raonic for the 10th time.
Djokovic was in complete control in his dismissal of Argentine 14th seed Diego Schwartzman, and will be buoyed by his flawless 9-0 record against the former world No.3.
Raonic, on another comeback from injury, snuck into the seedings, following Alex De Minaur’s withdrawal and made the most of it to reach his fifth Australian Open quarterfinal. He has beaten last year’s semifinalist, sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, and 2018 finalist, Marin Cilic, without conceding a set.
Question marks hung over six-time champion Roger Federer, following the 38-year-old’s decision to skip all lead-in events ahead of his 21st Australian Open campaign.
But after a gruelling five-set escape against home hope John Millman in the third round, the Swiss has again hit his straps.
After a slow start against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics on Sunday night, Federer romped home to book a record 15th quarterfinal spot at Melbourne Park.
He will meet 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren for the first time, following the American’s win over 12th seed Fabio Fognini.
Sandgren holds a surprising 5-2 record against top-10 opponents at slams and has ventured this far once before, at Melbourne Park two years ago.