Sharapova screamed in delight after the successful challenge, and Bencic stood for a while and had to ask the chair umpire if the match was over.
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Novak Djokovic dished up 100 unforced errors in a five-set struggle with Gilles Simon on Sunday as Roger Federer roared into the Australian Open quarter-finals with ruthless efficiency.
The Serb has now reached at least the quarter-final stage in his last 27 grand slams.
Yet Djokovic still thought it was a forgettable day.
“Sorry, everybody is laughing”.
“I just feel like I’m really confident in my game right now, not against her or against any other opponent”, in particular, Williams said.
“I haven’t practised yesterday, I didn’t hit a tennis ball”, Djokovic said.
“OK, thanks buddy”, Djokovic deadpanned.
An astonishing 100 unforced errors, split between his forehand and backhand, prompted the Serb to say: “I don’t think I’ve had any close number to a hundred”.
“It wasn’t an easy match for me”. Simon tenaciously avoided shorter rallies, and he won more points in longest rallies of 9 shots and more. Youre always trying to improve, said Sharapova, the 2008 champion and four-time finalist in Australia. I know very well how good he plays, especially in the later stages of a major event. My best is what is going to be necessary to win against him. “I think that makes me play better”.
Federer watched Djokovic’s match, before going out to beat No. 15 David Goffin 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in a match that finished after midnight, and the error toll didn’t bring him any joy. “When you’re playing someone like Simon, he senses that and he makes you play an extra shot. You have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity”.
Simon rallied with a final flourish, regaining a service break and saving two match points before holding to raise thunderous cheers from a raucous crowd firmly in his corner. “This was five sets”. Both Novak and Gilles were out of rhythm, with 34 unforced errors on both sides, and Frenchman had only 3 winners. But you have days like this, fortunately you manage to fight your way through.
Djokovic admitted he will need to step up his game on Tuesday, when he faces the seventh seed Kei Nishikori, who dismantled world No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets earlier on Sunday.
Berdych also had to come through a marathon five-setter as he outlasted Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight for the sixth year in a row.
Defending champion Serena Williams takes a 17-match winning streak into her last-eight encounter with Maria Sharapova that is a rematch of last year’s final at Melbourne Park.
Tenth seed Suarez Navarro rebounded from an opening set battering to beat Daria Gavrilova 0-6 6-3 6-2 and end Australia’s interest in the women’s draw.
However, Nishikori is winning no more than 65 percent of his second serve points, a number that must improve.
Nishikori’s last win over Djokovic came in the 2014 US Open, and the last meeting overall was in last year’s ATP World Tour Finals.
That’s the driving factor here.
“I was definitely expecting the game like that”, Berdych said after the loss. Williams said she felt confident in her game regardless of who she was playing. “So each time I take a loss, I feel like I get better”. It’s a statistic she tries to block from her mind.
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Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori meet in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open.
