novak djokovic
Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian open Saturday night. Reuters

Five hours and five sets later, Novak Djokovic worked himself out of an early hole to eliminate Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday.

The win placed the Serbian star in the quarterfinals, and kept him on his quest to be the first player to ever capture three straight slams in Melbourne. It was also his 18th consecutive victory at the Australian Open.

The 15th seeded Wawrinka captured the first set 1-6, and was up 2-5 in the second until Djokovic rallied and avoided a two-set deficit. Wawrinka later won the fourth set tiebreaker and Djokovic took the back-and-forth fifth set, 12-10.

Djokovic will face the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych in the quarters, who swept South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in three sets.

Below are the highlights for the thrilling marathon match.

Melbourne: Djokovic, che sofferenza con Wawrinka!by Omnisport-it