SNAPSHOT FROM DAY SEVEN OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN AT MELBOURNE PARK:
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Lleyton Hewitt - the retiring great received a thunderous send-off after his 20-year professional tennis career officially came to an end with a 6-4 6-2 third-round Australian Open doubles loss with Sam Groth.
KEY MOMENT: There was no way back for Hewitt and Groth after Canadian Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock, the 2014 Wimbledon doubles champions, claimed two early breaks in the second set at Margaret Court Arena.
STAT OF THE DAY: World No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic's epic 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over Gilles Simon vaulted the Serb into a Federer-like 27th consecutive grand slam quarter-final.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I hate being by myself. As much as I always am, like, I want to be alone, I don't think I like it so much. It's just been, it's been long. I feel like I have been here for three months." - world No.1 Serena Williams insisting she prefers to the isolation of a tennis court to off-court solitude.
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TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Williams' 6-2 6-1 romp against Russian Margarita Gasparyan set up a quarter-final blockbuster against Maria Sharapova in a sequel to the superstars' 2015 title decider won by the American, while Djokovic will face Japanese ace Kei Nishikori in a marquee men's last-eight clash.
