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Giantkiller Denis Istomin has backed up his shock win over Novak Djokovic to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The 30-year-old Uzbek defeated 30th seed Pablo Carreno Busta on Saturday 6-4 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-2 in just under three-and-a-half hours.
Istomin will face Grigor Dimitrov or Richard Gasquet in the round of 16, equalling his best performance in a grand slam.
The world No.117’s stunning five-set win over second seed and six-time Open champion Djokovic on Thursday blew the men’s draw wide open, and Istomin said he had been motivated to back it up.
“It’s mentally tough because ,after beating Novak, I mean, Carreno is also a great player,” he said.
“After beating Novak, I don’t want to lose like three sets in a row, and then everybody saying that I was dead.”
Beyond some minor muscle tightness, Istomin said he had not suffered any ill-effects after enduring back-to-back five-set marathons.
But he has had to adjust to his new-found fame after being inundated with phone calls and Facebook messages after his win over Djokovic.
“I have no time to answer everyone, so I just put the ‘like’,” he said.
“Sorry, but it takes one month to answer to everyone. I need to prepare for the next match, and everybody was happy.”
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