Berrettini had no trouble breaking Monfils in the first two sets and even fought off several breaks in what initially looked destined to finish in three sets. <\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/strong> Kyrgios' 'brutally honest' take on doubles rivals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Junior boxing champ shock contender for Newcastle Knights<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n But a crucial double fault in the third set while Monfils had a break point opportunity sparked a fightback by the French veteran, who took control and pushed the match well past midnight.<\/p>\n "I'm really happy for myself," Berrettini said during his on-court interview<\/p>\n "What a great fight again against Gael. Great match, a lot of emotions.<\/p>\n "I had a couple of break points and I couldn't make them … like what happened with (Carlos) Alcaraz (Garfia in the third round) as well, I was leading and then they started to play better.<\/p>\n Stream every match, every court of the Australian Open live and free on<\/em><\/strong> 9Now<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n "I thought I had him in the third set, but I found myself in the fifth … I really fought hard and I put everything on the court. That's what I said to myself, and that's why I'm really happy."<\/p>\n Berrettini, as he did against the Spaniard in the third-round<\/a>, found a way back to survive in five sets.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old Italian broke against Monfils in the first game of the deciding set. He eventually went up a double break and finished things off against Monfils, who couldn't repeat his third and fourth set heroics.<\/p>\n He will now face superstar Rafael Nadal in the next round after the Spaniard defeated Denis Shapovalov earlier.<\/p>\n Tonight's match wasn't the first five-set encounter between the pair.<\/p>\n Monfils and Berrettini famously played a thrilling five-setter in 2019 in the quarter-finals of the US Open.<\/p>\n Fellow Italian Jannik Sinner will have a shot at joining Berrettini in the semi-finals, with a quarter-finals match against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to follow.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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