France's top player, Ugo Humbert, advanced to the last-16 at the Australian Open for the first time on Friday after compatriot Arthur Fils retired from his third-round match due to a foot injury.
Fils, the French number two, took the first set 6-4. But Humbert, seeded 14th, wrestled control of the tie after claiming the second 7-5 and edging the third 6-4.
Visibly incapacitated by the injury, Fils, the 20th seed, conceded the encounter at the start of the fourth set.
On Sunday Humbert will play the second seed Alexander Zverev, a straight sets winner over the Briton Jacob Fearnley, for a place in the last eight at one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit.
The pair met last November in the final at the Paris Masters, where Zverev triumphed in straight sets.
Elsewhere in the bottom half of the men's draw, 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, seeded seventh, advanced 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 past Tomas Machac from the Czech Republic.
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz needed four sets to see off Nuno Borges from Portugal and the 24th seed Jiri Lehecka dispatched the unseeded Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the last-16 in Australia for the second time in four visits.
The 23-year-old will take on Djokovic who is seeking a record 25th Grand Slam singles title.
Marathon
For the second match running, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina came from two sets down to prevail. The 25-year-old Spaniard saved a match point in the third set tiebreaker against the unseeded Czech player Jakub Mensik before winning it nine points to seven.
And 72 minutes after facing doom, Davidovich Fokina claimed the match to reach the last-16 in Australia for the first time in five visits.
In the women's draw, the top seed and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka dismissed Clara Tauson from Denmark 7-6, 6-4.
Third seed Coco Gauff also progressed in straight sets and the 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva moved into the fourth round for the second consecutive year at the expense of Pole Magdalena Frech.
The 14th seed beat the 23rd seed 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 to set up a Sunday showdown with Sabalenka for a place in the last eight.
