Novak Djokovic struck back for the old guard at the Australian Open, soaking up the pressure from a willing Daniil Medvedev before crushing the young Russian 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2 6-3 to reach his 10th quarter-final at Melbourne Park.
The night after Roger Federer was stunned by Greek tyro Stefanos Tsitsipas, there was another sniff of an upset at Rod Laver Arena as 22-year-old Medvedev rocked the Serb with a furious assault of power hitting.
Yet the Russian wearied in the constant attrition, and top seed Djokovic cruised to victory, having passed easily his biggest test at the tournament.
The world number one will continue his bid for a hat-trick of Grand Slam titles and a record seventh at Melbourne Park against eighth seed Kei Nishikori.
An exhausted Nishikori battled from two sets down to outlast Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(8) 4-6 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(8) in an epic encounter and book his place in the quarter-finals.
Dragged into a five-set dogfight for the third time in four rounds, Nishikori struggled to deal with the physical and mental strain early on as Carreno Busta took a two-set lead but the eighth seed clawed his way back to level the contest.
The Japanese blew an early a break in the fifth set but prevailed in the tiebreaker to seal the win in five hours and five minutes, much to the delight of his compatriots in the crowd at Margaret Court Arena.
German prospect Alexander Zverev only managed to beat his racket as the highly-regarded fourth seed was dumped out by big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in a surprisingly one-sided 6-1 6-1 7-6(5) triumph.
Zverev has emerged as one of the brightest stars in men's tennis after victories over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic en route to an ATP Finals triumph in November, but the 21-year-old German remains unable to find his best form at Grand Slams.
Following 20-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas' win over Federer on Sunday, the towering, shaggy-haired Zverev needed to prove he also has the temperament to match his talent and help lead the next generation against the established order.
"This is one of many tournaments. You can't really compete every single week saying you made semis there or quarters there, beat that," Zverev, who has yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam, told reporters.
"No, actually I want to be the best, but, yeah, not this week. Right now I'm not happy, but I'm not depressed either. It's fine. It's a tennis match. I have learned to take tennis matches as tennis matches and not the end of the world."
Zverev started well against 16th seed Raonic with a break in the first game, but he was then broken six times in the first two sets before the Canadian converted his fourth match point in a tight third set to seal the contest in less than two hours.
Injury-prone Raonic, who climbed to a career-high ranking of third in 2016 when he reached the Wimbledon final, believes he was rediscovering his best form.
"I had a really good off-season. I put in some of the best hours in a long period of time, maybe if ever," the 28-year-old said. "I'm not the kind of guy that needs a lot of matches."
