As it happened: Tsitsipas through to semifinals, Azarenka defeats Pegula, Korda retires hurt against Khachanov

Earlier in the day, Khachanov defeated American Sebastian Korda, who was forced to retire with a wrist injury in the third set after trailing Khachanov 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 3-0.

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina also dashed Lativian player Jelena Ostapenko’s semi-final hopes, winning in straight sets of 6-2, 6-4.

The quarter-finals continue on Wednesday, with Czech 30th seed Karolina Pliskovawill to face Polish World No.45 Magda Linette from 11am. Competition favourite Aryna Sabalenka will follow in a clash with Croatian World No. 64 Donna Vekic.

Then Americans Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul will play for a spot in the semi-finals. The main match from 7.30pm will see fourth seed Novak Djokovic return to play fifth seed Andrey Rublev. Djokovic’s defeat of Australian Alex de Minaur on Monday night showed the Serbien no longer hindered by a hamstring injury and he remains the tournament’s frontrunner.

Tune into our live blog on Wednesday for more action as it happens.

Q: The tiebreak was an incredible level of tennis from you because he was lifting too. That second set you guys, the ground strokes you were sitting were some of the fastest we are going to see all season long. The third set you faced a real challenge; 0-40 on your serve. How did you get out of that jam?

A: Um, experience ... experience and some good Spartan attitude, too.

Q: Speaking of Spartan, you have talked about how there is no Grand Slam tournament in Greece, this feels like your home Grand Slam. How was the crowd for you tonight?

A: Yeah, I mean Australia is such a great country ... One of my favourite actresses comes from Australia, Margot Robbie.

Q: So you are officially extending an invitation to Margot Robbie? I just want to be crystal clear here.

Absolutely. But ... I like a lot of things in Australia, you know. The people are very welcoming. I have said that so many times. I will keep saying it because it is very true. I grew up in place that is very similar in terms of conditions and lifestyle and I find myself feeling home when I am here. It is not too tropical, not too humid, and I very much feel like home. And I know the French have the Roland Garros as their Grand Slam, the British have Wimbledon, the Americans have the US Open. For me, the Australian Open is always going to be my home Grand Slam. I feel very much loved here.

Q. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Vika play at that level from front to back. What is it like facing that? What is it that she did tonight that prevented you from being able to impose yourself?

A: I think she did exactly what she wanted to do. She was just executing it, I feel, pretty well tonight. Hitting the ball deep, taking it early, changing the direction on the ball, doing things that I usually like to do to people. She was doing it well.

Q: Beating Iga at the start of the year, a massive statement, made a lot of people think of you as a very strong title contender. Has it felt different, this tournament, from a mental perspective?

A: A little bit. I feel like I had a good chance to go deeper here than I did by losing tonight. At the same time, again, it’s like one match at a time. I had some really good wins at the start of the year and this tournament. I think I can walk away saying it was a successful tournament and a successful trip to Australia.

Q. When Vika is inside the baseline, taking the ball early, how do you try to combat it?

A: Yeah, I was trying to get the ball deep. I was trying to go deep middle to kind of not let her move me around as much. But if I didn’t get it deep enough, she would kind of just punish me for not getting it deep enough ... I feel like I gave her a lot of unforced errors, a lot of mistakes. I didn’t like the conditions tonight. It felt so slow. She’s played a lot of late matches at night, so I think she seemed definitely more used to it. It felt like the first few games, it took me a while to get my rhythm with her ball.

Q: You got to hit a little bit on Laver with the roof closed before the match. Did you notice the speed differential during the warm-up?

A: Definitely. I mean, I played Sasnovich with the roof closed, but it was more during the day. It didn’t feel as different. But I think at night it felt a lot more humid. Sweating quite a bit. It just felt slow ... I couldn’t, like, quite get a grasp on the conditions. The balls are slower and heavier, but at the same time, every time I tried to hit out, I felt like I was missing, not by a lot, but a few inches here and there.

Q: How much was it on your mind that this was a quarterfinal and you haven’t been beyond that round in a slam? Do you think that made any difference tonight?

A: Not really. Once you’re out there, it’s just another match, another battle. I always know it’s going to be tough playing Vika. She’s such a good competitor. She plays so well here. We’ve had some good matches in the past. I don’t think I was thinking about that at all. Of course, you’re excited, you’re deeper in a tournament, feature match. At the same time once you get out there, you’re just trying to win the match.