In fact Mensik almost sealed it without needing a shootout when he served for the match at 6-5 in the third set, but was broken despite being up 30-0 just two points from victory.

Again, the Czech was within touching distance of the last 16 when he led 6-5 and 7-6 in the tiebreak, but could only watch in disbelief as those chances slipped away.

At 6-5, Davidovich Fokina had to chase down and dig up a Mensik netcord and on the Czech’s second match point at 7-6 the Spaniard kept things alive with a perfect angled backhand volley under pressure. 

“The feeling that I never give up and fight in every point, every game, it’s like it gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of strength to continue for the next round,” said the Spanish 25-year-old, who will play Tommy Paul for a place in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

“In all these years I had a lot of ups and downs. I had decided this year to fight every point. It doesn’t matter how is the result. Don’t look at the result.”

The former Junior Wimbledon champion endured a tough season in 2024, watching his ranking slip from No.26 to 61 by the year-end. But some hard yards before his trip to Australia is beginning to pay dividends.

MORE: AO 2025 men’s singles draw

“I think all the work that all the team put on the five weeks of pre-season, I think it gave me a lot of energy. Doesn’t matter what is happening on court,” explained Davidovich Fokina.

In another AO late show that finished at nearly 1am, 15th seed Jack Draper won his third successive five-set match to set up a meeting with Carlos Alcaraz.

After going the distance against Mariano Navone and then Thanasi Kokkinakis, the British No.1 dug deep once more to survive by the skin of his teeth 6-4 2-6 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6[10-8] against Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic. 

Elsewhere, second seed Alexander Zverev’s smooth passage continued as he won his third successive match in straight sets, this time against young Scot Jacob Fearnley 6-3 6-4 6-4.

The German, who finished 2024 as year-end No.2 for the first time in his career, is yet to be stretched to anything more stressful than a 6-4 set so far this tournament.

Zverev will need to be on his guard when he plays French No.1 Ugo Humbert in the fourth round, after the flashy left-hander moved on when his good friend Arthur Fils was forced to retire with an ankle injury as he trailed 4-6 7-5 6-4 1-0.

American No.2 Paul is progressing nicely and it was Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena who was outplayed this time in his third appearance of the week.

Paul needed five sets to beat Christopher O’Connell in his first match, then required four sets to get past Kei Nishikori before finally recording a straight-sets victory on Friday 7-6(0) 6-2 6-0 to move into the top 10 on the ATP live rankings. 

Another seemingly on cruise control this week – and indeed so far this year – is Czech Jiri Lehecka, who made it eight wins out of eight in 2025.

The recent Brisbane champion outplayed Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-2 6-3 6-3 and can now prepare to do battle with 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in two days’ time.