Kei Nishikori becomes the first Japanese male to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with his 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 upset of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The only other Japanese male to reach the final of eight of a major before was Shuzo Matsuoka at 1995 Wimbledon. Currently ranked No. 26, the 22-year-old is already highest-ranked male in Japanese history and guaranteed to crack the Top 20 when the event is over.
"When you have a guy in front of you who return everything, even when you serve 215 [kilometers per hour], it put lot of pressure," Tsonga said. "It's tough to play against him because he run a lot and everything's coming back. Even when he's far in the point, he come back on his line."