Rafa Nadal held off a fierce challenge from one of the hottest prospects in the game when he outlasted German teenager Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open.
The Spaniard, champion here in 2009, needed to be at his resilient best to come out on top after more than four hours of top quality shot-making and thrilling rallies which earned both players a huge ovation from the Rod Laver Arena crowd.
The 19-year-old showed in spades why many consider him a future grand slam champion but was just unable to stay with Nadal in a gripping deciding set, which the 30-year-old sealed when the 24th seed netted a forehand.
Returning to Melbourne Park as ninth seed after curtailing his 2016 season because of injury, Nadal will next face Gael Monfils of France or another German in Philipp Kohlschreiber as he bids for a 15th grand slam title.
Milos Raonic's machine-like advance through the Australian Open suffered a brief glitch against Gilles Simon but the Canadian re-booted to delete the dogged Frenchman 6-2 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3 and reach the fourth round.
Third seed Raonic lost his first set of the tournament and his composure against the indefatigable Simon, whose hard running and passing shots threatened to turn the game on its head at a heaving Hisense Arena.
Raonic drowned out the Gallic cheers by capturing the decisive break in the sixth game of the final set and sealed the match with a big kicking serve that Simon could only parry into the net.
Raonic, a semi-finalist last year, next plays 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarter-finals.
Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, who knocked out defending champion and world number two Novak Djokovic in the previous round, continued his dream run as he beat Spanish 30th seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-2 in three hours and 27 minutes.
Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem overcame Benoit Paire 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-4 to advance to the fourth round, where he next faces 11th seed David Goffin.
"The fourth set was a little bit crazy," said Thiem, who was broken three times but still won the set.
Thiem said of Goffin: "There are no secrets between us. We have played seven or eight times, he is an amazing player and all our matches are really close."
