Marinko Matosevic defied an early injury scare to stroll past a dismal Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and reach the quarter-finals at Queen’s Club.
The Australian rolled his right ankle just 16 minutes in while leading 2-1, raising fears he may have to retire.
However he still breezed past Tsonga 6-2 6-4, the French fifth seed looking well below his best in a bizarre encounter on Thursday evening.
Tsonga joined Andy Murray in bowing out of the grass court tournament after the third-seeded Brit and reigning champion was upset 7-6 (12-10) 6-2 by Czech veteran Radek Stepanek.
Matosevic set up a last-eighth showdown on Friday with Swiss top seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who thrashed American Sam Querrey 6-2 6-2.
It continued an impressive run for the Australian world No.60, who beat 2012 champion and last year’s runner-up Marin Cilic in the first round.
Matosevic made a perfect start on Thursday when he broke serve in the opening game.
However his hopes of another upset looked in serious doubt when he fell awkwardly in the fourth game.
Matosevic grimaced with pain and immediately walked off the court but, after spending almost five minutes with the trainer, opted to continue.
He had his leg strapped two games later and his movement and footing looked to be affected.
However he wasn’t pushed very hard by a lethargic Tsonga.
Matosevic staved off three break points to go four two up then broke again before comfortable serving out the set.
Tsonga double faulted twice to hand Matosevic another early break in the first set and the Australian always looked in control as he claimed another big career scalp.
It’s been an eventful week in London for 28-year-old Matosevic, who sparked a controversy when he said he wouldn’t follow Murray’s lead of hiring a female coach because he didn’t “think that highly of the women’s game.
He is the last Australian remaining at Queen’s after Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic both lost in the second round.