The joker and a knight might have been shaken out but the king remains.
Roger Federer has become the oldest man to make a grand slam quarter-final since Jimmy Connors after a five-set win over Japanese counter-puncher Kei Nishikori.
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Federer into quarters after five set epic
Roger Federer saw off a spirited challenge from Kei Nishikori, whilst Coco Vanderweghe caused a massive upset beating Angelique Kerber.
Federer celebrated with rare emotion after the victory, screaming and smacking the ball into the crowd after the 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win on Sunday night in three hours and 23 minutes.
Rafa Nadal remains alive in this tournament too, so perhaps this is the grand slam for a last glimpse of history.
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"This is a huge win for me in my career," said Federer, acknowledging the size of the task of chasing an 18th grand slam victory at 35 years of age.
For the first hour it appeared Federer's reprise of his wondrous best against Tomas Berdych was just a tease. For an hour he was as loose as he was controlled against Berdych.
Nishikori did something in just the first game that Berdych could not do across three sets. He earned a break point. In fact he had five of them. And eventually he won one. The next Federer service game, the same thing: three break points. Federer saved two but not three.
Three games in and Federer was yet to win a game. As hot as he was against Berdych, Federer was flattened by a vibrant Nishikori. For a time, it appeared Federer could lose the set without winning a game. Unthinkable, and as it goes, a silly idle thought.
"I told myself to stay calm, being down like that I thought it was not going to get any worse," Federer said.
It was about this moment that Nishikori was like the man at the top of a ladder who looks down and realises how dizzyingly high up he is. He got shaky and didn't know how to close out the set.
From 5-1 down Federer forced the set to a tiebreaker which he lost but regardless, the momentum shift was palpable. Nishikori played as though wondering how he let the first set almost slip so easily out of his hands.
This was when "Being Roger" is its own weapon, as Nishikori was suddenly playing against the weight of Federer's history and achievement, and was intimidated.
Federer also played as a player with his record might, intuitively knowing to take on Nishikori aggressively at the start of the second set, especially on his serve. Quickly Federer broke and was able to claim the set in a regulation 6-4.
In the third set, the Japanese player with quick feet and a sharp, hard, counter-punching back hand – but a modest-paced serve – again fell quickly behind with multiple service breaks. The first set took 57 minutes and a tiebreaker; the next two sets took an hour and Nishikori could barely make a dent on Federer's serve.
Nishikori has not reached this moment without having mettle to his game and he drew himself out of the roll that Federer had him in spiralling in towards a quick defeat. In the fourth set he broke the Swiss serve and wrested back the momentum that had swung against him. He won the set and forced the match into a fifth set that the balance of play between the two said it deserved.
Federer broke early which was problematic for Nishikori for once he gets ahead Federer is seldom beaten. Nishikori could not rein him in and Federer closed the set and match out in quick time.
Federer might have presumed to play Andy Murray next but Sir Andy was dispatched by the surprising and net-charging German Mischa Zverev. The retro serve-volleying game unsettled Murray but Federer remains about the best volleyer in the game and would theoretically be less unsettled by the aggressive game.