Australian Open: Tennys Sandgren causes major upset, topples Dominic Thiem in pre-quarters
The 97th-ranked Tennessee native captured the decisive break against the Austrian in the sixth game of the final set and sealed the match in style with a thumping forehand winner from the baseline at a raucous Hisense Arena.
American Tennys Sandgren's dream debut at the Australian Open continued on Monday as the rank outsider upset fifth seed Dominic Thiem 6-2 4-6 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-3 to reach an improbable quarter-final.
The 97th-ranked Tennessee native captured the decisive break against the Austrian in the sixth game of the final set and sealed the match in style with a thumping forehand winner from the baseline at a raucous Hisense Arena.
The 26-year-old threw down his racket and raised his arms aloft as the terraces roared in disbelief at the American's astonishing achievement.
Sandgren became only the second man in the last 20 years to reach the quarter-finals on debut at Melbourne Park. Sandgren will face either 14th seed Novak Djokovic or Chung Hyeon for a place in the semi-finals.
Earlier in the day, Tomas Berdych belied his lowest seeding at a grand slam since 2010 by sweeping into his seventh Australian Open quarter-final with a convincing 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over Fabio Fognini.
Showing great mobility, the towering Czech neutralised the potentially tricky world number 25 in a sometimes tetchy two-hour contest on Margaret Court Arena.
The 32-year-old 19th seed converted six-of-11 break points and matched the entertaining Italian's 37 winners with a much lower error count, securing the victory with a rasping forehand that Fognini himself would have been proud of.
Berdych next meets Roger Federer, who beat him in the third round last year on his way to the title, or Hungarian baseliner Marton Fucsovics for a place in his third Melbourne Park semi-final.