Australian Open: Djokovic, Paul, Shelton advance to quarterfinals

Djokovic eliminated the home player from the competition by a comfortable margin of 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

Questions were being raised over Djokovic's fitness as he was playing with a hamstring injury that made him look really uncomfortable in wins against Roberto Carballes Baena, Enzo Couacaud and Grigor Dimitrov previously.

But the nine-time Australian Open champion put all the doubts regarding his fitness to rest in a largely one-sided round-of-16 match.

"I really wanted to win in straight sets," Djokovic said as quoted by ATP.

"You obviously do not know what is going to happen on the court. I thought the first four, five games were close. After breaking serve in the first set, I started feeling more free and more loose to hit through the ball and be more aggressive," he added.

"I thought he was a bit more nervous towards the end of the second [set] and the beginning of the third set. I thought that was my opportunity to capitalise on those chances. Tennis is a very quick and dynamic sport. Things can change in a matter of moments, the matter of points. But I kept my focus all the way through and played the best match of the year so far," added Djokovic.

Elsewhere, Tommy Paul of America reached his first-ever quarterfinal of a Grand Slam event, defeating Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in their round-of-16 clash.

The 25-year-old delivered a fantastic fourth-set performance to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

"It was a really physical, tough match," said Paul after his hard-earned victory on Margaret Court Arena.

"Any time you play Bautista it's going to be a war. So I was prepared for that match and I thought I executed really well today. It is always fun playing on this court, I think it was my third time playing here and it's always a blast," said Paul.

He will be taking on compatriot Ben Shelton next after the 20-year-old downed J.J. Wolf in five sets, extending his dream debut in Melbourne.

He won the match by 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Earlier, Andrey Rublev rallied back from the brink to edge out Holger Rune of Denmark in a blockbuster 5-setter clash to book a seat in the quarter-final in the ongoing Australian Open here at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday.

Rublev saved two match points before winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (11/9) on Rod Laver Arena.

"I never in my life was able to win matches like this. This is the first ever time that I won something like this, especially in a very special tournament, the Australian Open, to be in the quarter-finals. So it's something I will remember for sure all my life. I have no words, I am shaking and happy," ATP.com quoted Rublev as saying post-match. (ANI)