In an extraordinary twist, ageless champion Roger Federer is suddenly the new Australian Open favourite.
The 35-year-old father of four is contesting his first official tournament in six months following a career-threatening injury-enforced layoff.
But after backing up his third-round schooling of 10th seed Tomas Berdych with a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3 defeat of fifth seed Kei Nishikori on Sunday night, Federer now has the backing of bookmakers around the world.
The Swiss great’s vintage form and the shock exits of Sir Andy Murray and six-times champion Novak Djokovic – marking the first time in 15 years the top two seeds have bowed out – have conspired to have Federer installed as Open favourite at the tornament’s halfway point.
Such as scenario was unthinkable a week ago as Murray, the newly-knighted and newly-elevated world No.1, and Djokovic arrived in Melbourne eyeing their own special places in tennis history.
Instead, Federer – who harboured only modest expectations before embarking on his 18th consecutive Open tilt – will play Mischa Zverev in the quarter-finals on Tuesday after the unheralded German sent Murray packing on Sunday.
Hunting down an elusive 18th grand slam crown – five years after landing his record 17th – Federer could strike fourth-seeded countryman Stan Wawrinka or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals.
The winner of the top half of the draw will likely line up against either third seed Milos Raonic or eighth seed Dominic Thiem in the final – or Rafael Nadal if the two grand slam titans can each win two more matches.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
So we could see a real throwback Federer v Nadal final hey! Probably won't, but it's on the cards. The level in men's tennis at the moment is really high, and where these top guys were previously such a step ahead of everyone else that they could afford to be a bit off their game and still fight their way through, that's less and less the case now. Where Women's tennis has gone backwards and Serena is facing less real competition at this stage in her career than she faced when she was younger, Men's tennis has just gone on in leaps and bounds with more and more players just raising the bar and challenging the top guys.