MELBOURNE, Australia — After snuffing out local hopes for yet another Australian Open, Grigor Dimitrov huddled with Nick Kyrgios at the net Sunday and the two exchanged encouraging words.
It was Kyrgios, having just lost 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4) in the fourth round, who left Dimitrov, ranked third, with this message: “Believe.”
Dimitrov has not won a major, coming closest in Melbourne last year before losing a semifinal to Rafael Nadal in five sets, but he is enhancing his credentials as a next-generation champion.
“He hasn’t even found his best form yet and he’s still getting through all those matches, which is pretty frightening,” Kyrgios said of Dimitrov, 26. “Once he finds his feet and he has more confidence, he’s got a real chance at winning it.”
Nadal secured his spot in a 10th Australian Open quarterfinal earlier Sunday on Rod Laver Arena, beating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in a match that lasted nearly four hours.
The 16-time major winner draped an arm around his Argentine friend and patted him on top of the head. If Nadal needed a fitness test in the first week in his comeback from an injured right knee, he got it.
“A great battle ... he’s a good friend of mine,” Nadal said. “This is the first big match that I played in 2018. That’s confidence for myself ... confidence I can resist for four hours on court at a good intensity.”
Nadal next will play 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who collected his 100th Grand Slam match win with a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (3) victory over No. 10 Pablo Carreño Busta.
“I had the 300th win of my career at the U.S. Open in 2014, so this is also beautiful one,” Cilic said. “I hope I’m going to continue and gather three more here.”
Britain’s Kyle Edmund reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 afternoon win over Andreas Seppi.
In women’s play, Caroline Wozniacki continued to cash in on her second chance, reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2012 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Magdalena Rybarikova.
After saving match points and coming back from 5-1 down in the third set of her second-round win, Wozniacki, ranked second, said she was “playing with the house money” and had nothing to lose.
Wozniacki next plays Carla Suarez Navarro, who rallied from a set and 4-1 down to beat No. 32 Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-4, 8-6.
The other women’s quarterfinal will feature the winners of two tuneup events. Brisbane International champion Elina Svitolina beat Denisa Allertova 6-3, 6-0 in a match that started just before midnight.
Svitolina, seeded fourth, next plays Hobart International winner Elise Mertens, who beat Petra Martic to reach the quarterfinals in her Australian Open debut.
John Pye is an Associated Press writer.