Carlos Alcaraz wasted little time in seeing off Matteo Arnaldi to march into the quarter-finals at the US Open.
The defending champion and world number one was a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 6-4 winner inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
British number one Cameron Norrie could be forgiven for thinking he had dodged a bullet after losing to Arnaldi in the previous round.
The Italian did manage a break at the start of the third but it was quickly snuffed out as Alcaraz raced to victory in under two hours.
"I think the intensity from the beginning until the last ball pleased me," said the 20-year-old Wimbledon champion.
"I played a really solid match, less mistakes, I played my game. I'm really happy with the performance."
Former US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev beat sixth seed Jannik Sinner 6-4 3-6 6-2 4-6 6-3 late on earned a quarter-final meeting with Alcaraz.
The 26-year-old German, who is rediscovering his best form after an ankle injury wrecked his 2022 season, swapped breaks with Sinner early in the contest and was locked in a tight battle until 4-4 before going ahead to take the first set with two aces.
Sinner responded immediately with some heavy hitting in the next set to go up 3-0 and turned up the heat in a steamy Arthur Ashe Stadium to thwart the 2020 finalist's late charge.
Sinner then struggled with cramp in both legs in the next set. The 22-year-old saved five breakpoints to hold for 2-2 but 12th seed Zverev reeled off the next four games.
World number six Sinner began swinging at everything in the fourth set and Zverev cracked under the onslaught, dropping serve in the ninth game as his opponent forced a decider.
But a crucial break in the fifth set gave Zverev the upper hand and he held his nerve to close out the win in four hours and 41 minutes with a powerful serve.
After two late-night matches at Flushing Meadows third seed Daniil Medvedev finally finished work 'early' on Monday by taming Australian Alex de Minaur 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals for the fourth time in five years.
Medvedev has been working the graveyard shift at the US Open, with his previous two matches starting one day and ending early the next, but after a sluggish start he stepped into high gear to speed past 13th seeded De Minaur.
Jack Draper's breakthrough run came to an end in the fourth round after a four-set defeat by Russian Andrey Rublev.
The British number four, in the second week of a grand slam for the first time, fell 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 to eighth seed Rublev.
But Draper's performances this week will hopefully point to an upward curve in such a promising career hindered by fitness issues.
The 21-year-old has endured an injury-hit year and slipped from a ranking of 38, in January, to outside the top 100.
A shoulder problem saw him miss Wimbledon and also threatened his participation at Flushing Meadows.
Yet despite serving well within himself in a bid to manage the problem, Draper was the only British player to reach the last 16, and he gave combustible Russian Rublev plenty of reasons to vent his spleen in a see-saw contest.
Additional reporting: Reuters
