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.
3. Pat Rafter (2001)
This former world No. 1 tennis legend is perhaps the most surprising name on the list to have not only never won the Australian Open, but have never reached its final.
Despite achieving his greatest success on hard courts, with two consecutive US Open titles, that dominance never translated to his hometown tournament.
His closest shot came in 2001, when he defeated Dominik Hrbaty in the quarterfinals, only to lose to Andre Agassi in a thrilling five-set semifinal. The pair's head-to-head record eventually ended at 5-10 in Agassi's favour.
