Once the early rain cleared on Wednesday, fans on site for Australian Open 2024 at Melbourne Park were spoilt for choice when it came to which of the men’s top seeds to enjoy live courtside.
MORE: All the scores from Day 4 at AO 2024
After his breakout run to the quarterfinals 12 months ago and with the explosive brand of tennis he produces, it was no surprise there was another big crowd in position at John Cain Arena when 16th seed Ben Shelton stepped on court to face Australian Christopher O’Connell.
MORE: AO 2024 men's singles draw
The big-serving American was heavy favourite given a ranking gap in his favour of 52 places, but a vocal Aussie crowd made things as uncomfortable as they could for the lefty, who also reached the US Open semifinals last September.
After world No.68 O’Connell hit back to take the third set, Shelton was relieved to get through a tight fourth-set tiebreak to win 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6(5).
“It was a tough one today against a guy who definitely had the home crowd support,” said Shelton, who hit 17 aces.
“That ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi’ chant – I hear it when I sleep at night from last year to this year!
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“I was trying to come forward a little bit more and work on serving and volleying. He made it tough, he was passing really well and moving really well. He’s been playing well the second half of last season. I’ve seen him winning so many matches. A tough guy.”
Shelton was joined in the third round by fellow American Taylor Fritz, but another seed from the US, Frances Tiafoe, went out when he lost to Czech Tomas Machac 6-4 6-4 7-6(5).
Fritz needed five sets during his first-round victory, but in stark contrast hammered Frenchman Hugo Gaston 6-0 6-3 6-1 on Day 4.
“He can really mess with someone’s rhythm – the slices, the drop shots, the leftyness – but I had a pretty clear gameplan of what I wanted to do,” was Fritz’s assessment afterwards.
Machac’s victory over Tiafoe, meanwhile, earned him a spot in the third round at a major for the first time in his career. “I was believing in myself that I was playing the best tennis of my life and believing that this is the moment for me,” the world No.75 explained after his straight-set success.
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev has never made it past the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam, but took one step closer to that milestone by negotiating a route past another American, Chris Eubanks, 6-4 6-4 6-4.
“The way he serves and the way he shoots the ball is really hard and really dangerous,” said Rublev, who has lost all nine of his quarterfinals at the Grand Slams.
“I was really nervous how the match would be. Here it’s tough to break, but I started to feel well and to return well and everything today went my side.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas has played some of his best tennis in Australia, a three-time AO semifinalist before reaching his first final at Melbourne Park in 2023.
The seventh seed had to fight for his life before surviving a four-set thriller with Australian Jordan Thompson, clinching two critical tiebreaks during three hours and 37 minutes on court.
Thompson very nearly came from a break down in the fourth set to force a decider on Margaret Court Arena.
Tsitsipas held two match points on serve at 5-4, then had to save four set points in a marathon 13-minute service game at 5-6 before finally edging it 4-6 7-6(6) 6-2 7-6(4).
“The adrenaline and rush I got out of this match was insane tonight,” said the Greek, who will play French teenager Luca Van Assche.
“You live for these kinds of matches. The intensity was there today, and we were both able to peak in terms of our tennis at some stage of the match.”