Arevalo/Pavic march on in Melbourne

Six sets played, six sets won for Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic at the Australian Open.

The top-seeded pair prevailed 6-4, 7-6(5) against Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul on Sunday to book its quarter-final spot at the hard-court major. Arevalo and Pavic headed into the encounter having dropped just six games across their opening two matches in Melbourne, but they were made to dig deeper by Doumbia and Reboul.

Arevalo and Pavic rallied from 1-4 to clinch the second set in a tie-break and seal their win. They finished having won 83 per cent (38/46) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys Stats, and ultimately wrapped victory in 92 minutes.

Chasing their fifth tour-level title as a team and their second at a major after they triumphed at Roland Garros last year, Arevalo and Pavic will take on Andre Goransson and Sem Verbeek in the quarter-finals. after the Swedish-Dutch pair defeated home wild cards Luke Saville and Li Tu 6-4, 6-3.

Third seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori also booked their quarter-final spot on Sunday. The Italian duo, which reached the championship match in Melbourne a year ago, defeated Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar 6-3, 7-6(6).

Their last-eight opponents this year will be Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral, who overcame Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3.