Raonic stuns former champion Wawrinka in Melbourne

But Murray admitted that had the episode been any worse, he would have abandoned a Grand Slam he has a very real chance of winning. She’s now into the quarterfinals against another unseeded player, Johanna Konta of Britain.

“I thought, ‘This is the best I’ve seen somebody volley in a long time, ‘” said Laurendeau, a serve and volleyer who played in the 1980s and 90s.

Raonic held firm in the fourth-set opener, saving two break points in a 20-point game. “I prepare myself for a very tough match because she’s very solid, very consistent, and an awesome fighter”.

Later, second seed Andy Murray had his feathers ruffled but scrapped his way into the Australian Open quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-4 7-6(4) victory over local world number 17 Bernard Tomic. The Frenchman is 2-0 in his career against Raonic, but the two haven’t played one another since 2013. Murray was in the driver’s seat of that match from start to finish.

After his straight sets win, Murray has now qualified for his seventh successive Australian Open quarter-final, which will be the 19th in appearance at that stage in the last 21 grand slams.

Gael Monfils and Ferrer are also in the last eight after overcoming Andrey Kuznetsov and John Isner respectively. In the Brisbane final, both Azarenka and Kerber came out firing early on in the match, playing with power and staying strong on their serves.

“He has a really sharp tennis brain and then he has a burning determination to succeed, and both were on exhibit at the Australian Open on Monday”.

Two nights after her dramatic win over Ivanovic, Madison Keys followed her out of the tournament.

She’s now the first British player since Durie in 1983 to advance to the quarterfinals in Australia. “I’m sure she’s going to do the same”, Azarenka said.

Wawrinka, who had beaten his Canadian opponent in their last four meetings, was able to work his way back into the contest, however. Raonic clinched the match in 3 hour, 44 minutes with a victor to the open court at love in the final game.

Monfils delighted the Margaret Court Arena crowd with his acrobatic game, including a full-stretch dive that resulted in him needing an injury timeout for treatment on his right hand.

There was a definite upset not far behind Murray, though, as No. 13 seed Milos Raonic took down No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka.

Raonic eventually took an impressive win, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 with 24 aces among a glittering 82 winners. Tomic lost the final set 7-6 (7-4).

Raonic lost to Djokovic in the quarterfinals here previous year.

“But I’m disappointed. I know I tried what I could today”. Li Na saved a match point in her third-round match at the 2014 Australian Open on the way to the title. “Certainly I was trying to just concentrate on the match when I was out there, but, like I said, it’s been a hard, hard few days”. It was Raonic’s first win on Rod Laver Arena, too, “so that’s a nice plus”.

Raonic rediscovered form which had taken him into a two set advantage, though, achieving the decisive break midway through the decider, sealing a 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

Ranked No. 133, Zhang was 0-14 in Grand Slams before this run at the Australian Open and she was even considering retirement before the tournament.