Draper to play Alcaraz after another five-set epic

Britain's Jack Draper fought through his third successive five-setter at the Australian Open to tee up a blockbuster meeting with Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round.

Draper, seeded 15th, won 6-4 2-6 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8) against home hope Aleksandar Vukic in another late-night thriller.

The British number one had already quelled a partisan Australian crowd by beating Thanasi Kokkinakis in an epic on Wednesday - and showed more of his monster mentality two days later.

Draper, 23, led by a break in the decider before Vukic - who belied his ranking of 86th in the world - refused to wilt and forced a match tie-break.

A throaty roar from Draper signalled his delight – and relief – at coming through in almost four hours.

"It was an unbelievable tough match, both of us played a lot of sets already so I knew it would be hard. It was a lot of ebbs and flows.

"I thought it was done and he came back from the dead. It was a great battle and two great competitors going at it. That's what sport is all about."

Draper, who is the only Briton left in the men's singles, will look to end 21-year-old Alcaraz's bid to complete a career Grand Slam on Sunday.

Draper's childhood rival Jacob Fearnley, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise since turning professional in April, was beaten by German second seed Alexander Zverev earlier on Friday.

Emma Raducanu is the only Briton left in the women's singles and plays second seed Iga Swiatek on Saturday at 00:30 GMT.

There will be live commentary of that match on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.