Since the Australian Open moved to Melbourne Park in 1988, only six Australian men have reached the tournament's singles quarterfinals.
Mark Edmondson remains famously remembered as the last Australian man to win the Australian Open in 1976, with no one in the Melbourne Park era able to secure the title.
With Alex de Minaur's 2025 quarterfinal marking the first Australian men's appearance at that stage in a decade, the question arises: Could this signal the start of a successful Australian Open run to rival Ash Barty's recent dominance on the women's side?
Or will the emergence of new tennis stars like Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev, following the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, mean we'll have to wait another decade for a resurgence in Australian men's tennis?
Here's a look back at the Australian men who have made it to that tough third-to-last round.
1. Pat Cash (1988)
Before the Melbourne Park era, the Australian Open alternated between the country's capital cities before settling at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne from 1972 to 1987.
Pat Cash was a dominant figure during the Kooyong years, reaching the quarterfinals or better in 1982, 1984 and 1987, though he never clinched the title.
In 1988, the first year of the new Melbourne Park era, Cash came close to victory - he defeated Dutch Michiel Schapers in straight sets in the quarterfinals, triumphed over American Ivan Lendl in the semifinals, but ultimately lost to Swedish player Mats Wilander in the final.
Despite coming up short in his second consecutive Aus Open final, Cash remained on a high after his Wimbledon victory the previous year, famously climbing into the stands to celebrate.
