Federer overcomes slow start, reaches Australian Open QFs

Roger Federer needed some time to get going in the Australian Open's fourth round, a match after a draining and difficult escape in which he was two points from defeat. To be precise, he required a full set to get sorted. After seeming sluggish while dropping the opener, Federer quickly righted himself and pushed through the next three sets without a hitch, reaching the 57th Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career by coming back to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.

When he takes on Tennys Sandgren of the United States on Tuesday, it'll be the 38-year-old Federer's record 15th quarterfinal at the Australian Open. He has won the title at Melbourne Park a half-dozen times, part of his men's-record 20 major championships. The other quarterfinal on that side of the bracket is defending champion Novak Djokovic against No. 32 Milos Raonic of Canada. The fourth-round matchups Monday: No. 1 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 23 Nick Kyrgios, No. 4 Daniil Medvedev vs. three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, No. 5 Dominic Thiem vs. No. 10 Gael Monfils, and No. 7 Alexander Zverev vs. No. 17 Andrey Rublev.

Federer's slow start against Fucsovics might have been a result of all of the energy he expended while getting past John Millman in a fifth-set super tiebreaker on Friday. Millman was two points from victory at 8-4, before Federer reeled off the last six consecutive points. Things never got quite so dire against Fucsovics, a 27-year-old from Hungary who is ranked 67th and was seeking his first major quarterfinal appearance. After failing to accumulate a single break point in the first set, Federer won seven of Fucsovics' service games the rest of the way.

He ended up with a 44-15 edge in winners on an evening with the temperature in the mid-60s Fahrenheit (below 20 Celsius). Federer has yet to face a seeded player in the tournament and that won't change against Sandgren, who is ranked 100th but eliminated No. 12 Fabio Fognini in four sets. The lowest-ranked player that has ever defeated Federer in his 21 Australian Open appearances was No. 54 Arnaud Clement in 2000.