Melbourne: Matteo Berrettini scripted tennis history on Tuesday by reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a five-set win over Gael Monfils.
The seventh-seeded French became the first Italian to reach the last four of the Australian Open after beating 17th seeded 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Last year's Wimbledon finalist Berrettini will now face 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal on Friday for a place in the final on Sunday.
Regarding his compatriot, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who faced Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Berrettini said, "It feels incredible (to be the first Italian), hopefully tomorrow there will be a second match with Jannik Sinar."
"I was really happy with myself, it was a great fight with Gayle, a great match, a lot of emotion.
"I thought I had him in the third set but then I found myself in the fifth. I fought really hard and I put everything on the court.
In a grinding match of 3 hours and 49 minutes of the night at Rod Laver Arena, 25-year-old Berrettini secured a double break for a clear jump in the fifth set when Monfils returned from sets two.
It was Berrettini's sixth victory in seven career five-set battles.
There were several draw-out, attritional games to give him the lead in the second set of 62 minutes, including a 20-minute Berettini serve hold game of 10 deuce.
That means the 35-year-old Monfils, who won the practice Adelaide tournament and not dropped a set in his last four matches, was again in his first quarter-final in Melbourne since 2016, when he lost. Four sets to Milos Raonic of Canada.
Monfils attributes his recent resurgence to the steady influence of his new wife, women's world number 17 Elina Svitolina. The tennis "power couple" tied the knot in Geneva in July, just before the Tokyo Olympics.