Unseeded surprise packet Kyle Edmund has become the first British man not named Andy Murray to make the last eight of the Australian Open in more than three decades with a scrappy, fourth-round win over Italian Andres Seppi.
The 23-year-old world No.49 dropped serve only once en route to his first grand slam quarter-final after the groundbreaking 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2 6-3 victory in 2 hours and 57 minutes.
"We were both coming off five-setters, had hit a lot of balls, so we were both feeling good," Edmund said after stepping off Hisense Arena.
"But through to a quarter-final, very happy.
"It's more of a shame that Andy's not here," the British men's No.2 said on the pressure of carrying the old empire's hopes.
"You play for your nation, but you're here playing for yourself. Nothing changes in terms of your preparations and process.
"But hopefully we'll have more Brits here in the future. For me, just personally, I'm very happy to get through and just keep doing my best."
The battle-scared Edmund came through a harrowing draw to make history, spending almost 12 hours on court across the first four rounds.
In his opening three rounds, the English up-and-comer triumphed against 2017 US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in non-consecutive five-set thrillers for a mere sniff at a last-eight berth.
Despite playing down motherland hype, Edmund was thankful for the support from back home.
"I know people are home waking up at silly hours of the morning (to watch me play), so I'm just grateful for that," he said.
Edmund, who was actually born in South Africa, will meet either No.3 seed Grigor Dimitrov or Australian Nick Kyrgios for a chance to move into the semi-finals.
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