American Taylor Fritz is more confident of beating Novak Djokovic than ever after setting up a quarter-final meeting with the king of the Australian Open.
The world No.12 advanced to the last eight at Melbourne Park for the first time after downing last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 on Sunday.
Fritz took three hours to win their fourth-round encounter on John Cain Arena to reach the third grand slam quarter-final of his career and second in a row after making the final eight at last year's US Open.
The 26-year-old took confidence into Sunday's showdown with Tsitsipas, reminding his box after the match "I told you".
"At the very end when I really needed it, I turned it up a level and starting playing my absolute best tennis to finish," Fritz said.
Fritz pushed 10-time champion Djokovic to five sets when the pair met in a unique third-round clash at Melbourne Park in 2021.
In bizarre scenes, all fans were ordered to clear out of Rod Laver Arena mid-match because of the Victorian government's snap COVID-19 lockdown starting at midnight.
Matches for the next three days were played without spectators at any court.
Fritz has lost all eight matches on the ATP Tour against Djokovic.
"A lot of these match-ups were when I was a bit younger,'' he said.
"Since then I'm improved and (have) become a better player.
"The times I've played him since I haven't really brought my best level, and you need to if you're going to compete with someone like Novak.
"I feel confident. If I'm able to play like I did (against Tsitispas) then I'm a chance."
Fritz's partner Morgan Riddle declared she would eat a jar of Vegemite live on Instagram if he defeated Tsitsipas.
Riddle believed Fritz was "too confident" ahead of his match against the Greek seventh seed.
"I won't be partaking (in eating Vegemite), but I'll make sure it happens," Fritz said.
Meanwhile, red-hot Italian Jannik Sinner demolished Russian 15th seed Karen Khachanov 6-4 7-5 6-3 to continue his sparkling run at Melbourne Park.
Sinner has not dropped a set in his opening four matches and could meet Australian hope Alex de Minaur in the quarter finals.
The fourth seed's best result at Melbourne Park is a quarter-final exit in 2022, and he is yet to reach a major final.
"I won so I'm very happy but it's obviously very tough to play against him (Khachanov)," Sinner said.
