Rafael Nadal insisted he is not "obsessed" in his quest for further grand slam glory after the 20-time major champion moved through to the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Nadal advanced to the last eight of the tournament for the 13th time in his illustrious career following Monday's dominant 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over 16th seed Fabio Fognini.
World number two Nadal is bidding to claim a record 21st slam crown, while the Spanish star is also looking to become the first man in the Open Era to win each of the four majors twice.
As Nadal looks ahead to a showdown with fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, he discussed his motivations, having won everything on offer on the ATP Tour.
"I play tennis. I like tennis," the 34-year-old said. "I like what I am doing. That's the main thing.
"Of course I am very motivated to win grand slams and to play in the most important events of the year. No doubt about that.
"The only thing that I said is I have never been obsessed to try to be the best or to try to – no, I just did my way. That worked for me.
"I think the ambition is important, to have an ambition, but a healthy ambition. If you have too much ambition then you can be frustrated when you are not able to achieve all the things that you wanted.
"I never approached the sport and my career that way. That's it. I enjoy, I give my best always. I try to compete at my highest standards every day. Sometimes the highest standards are 60 per cent, sometimes they are 100 per cent. But I just try to give my best throughout my career, and that's it.
"For me the main thing is come back home with personal satisfaction that you gave it everything. That's what gives me happiness and makes me stay calm."
Nadal was under an injury cloud heading into the year's first grand slam due to a back problem which forced him to sit out Spain's ATP Cup campaign in Melbourne.
But the 2009 Australian Open champion has looked comfortable at Melbourne Park, where he is yet to drop a set.
"I played first set without a doubt [against Fognini] has been my best level in the tournament," Nadal said. "It's normal, too, because I was able to practice for two days in a row. That makes an important difference.
"But at the same time, it's important to find positive feelings now. My physical condition needs to keep improving. But I think this match helps, too.
"I was not able to practice the proper way for the last 19 days, but yesterday [Sunday] I started again to increase the amount of work on the practice, and today has been a positive victory with some long points, so that helps for the next match."
Alcaraz battles past Monfils to keep winning streak alive
Carlos Alcaraz battled past Gael Monfils, becoming the first Spaniard to reach the Shanghai Masters quarter-final since 2017 as he kept his winning streak alive.
Having lost to the Frenchman in Cincinnati earlier this year, Alcaraz won 6-4 7-5 on Wednesday, which was his 12th victory on the bounce.
Monfils was bidding to become the second-oldest ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finalist in history at 38 years old and matched Alcaraz through the early stages, almost forcing a break.
But he could not hold onto a lead in the ninth game of the first set, and the 21-year-old took advantage.
Alcaraz did not have it all his own way in the second set despite an assured performance, which saw him serve three games to love overall.
Monfils could only defend two of three break points in the penultimate game as Alcaraz pressed home his advantage. He will meet Tomas Machac on Thursday.
"The main thing I tried in this match was to stay calm, to control my emotions and wait for my chances," said Alcaraz.
"That helped me a lot to show my best tennis during the match. I am feeling the ball really well, much more than I was during the American swing. So, I am happy to be able to do it and keep going."
Data Debrief: No stopping Alcaraz
Alcaraz has improved his record to 51-9 for the season with this win over Monfils and is into his 14th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Since the format's inception in 1990, Alcaraz (76.5%, 62-19) only trails three players for win percentage at ATP Masters 1000 events: Novak Djokovic (82.02%), Rafael Nadal (82.00%) and Roger Federer (77.9%).
Sinner exacts revenge on Shelton to reach Shanghai quarters
Jannik Sinner avenged last year's Shanghai Masters exit to Ben Shelton, beating him in straight sets to progress to the quarter-final on Wednesday.
The American was hoping for another upset to mark his 22nd birthday, but Sinner triumphed 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in 88 minutes.
Shelton started strongly, showing off a 95% first serve accuracy in the first set, as he matched the Italian in the opening games but could not force a vital break before Sinner's three-game winning run took the set away from him.
Sinner then had to dig deep as Shelton went on the attack once more, but he successfully defended all seven break points, five of which came in the second set.
He ramped up the pressure in the tie-break, cruising through to reach his 14th ATP Tour quarter-final of 2024.
"It was very tough. He played only first serves, except one second serve," Sinner said.
"But if I look at the positive picture, how I ended the match, I tried to stay a bit more aggressive, which I've done, and this hopefully can give me confidence for the next round."
He will face Daniil Medvedev in the final eight after the Russian saw off Stefanos Tsitsipas with a commanding performance.
Medvedev triumphed 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, hitting 28 winners and making just 20 unforced errors to the Greek's 34 as he came from 2-0 down in the second set, winning six of the last seven games to progress.
Data Debrief: Staying perfect
Sinner has made a 14th quarter-final from 14 ATP events in 2024, becoming only the fourth player aged 23 or under to do so in a single season after Jimmy Connors (1974), Guillermo Vilas (1976) and John McEnroe (1982).
Stefanos Tsitsipas (10) is now the second opponent Daniil Medvedev has defeated 10+ times head-to-head at ATP level, along with Alexander Zverev (12), while he will be searching for an eighth win against Sinner in the next round, having also beaten him at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Dominant Djokovic breezes past Cobolli in Shanghai
Novak Djokovic's hopes of claiming a 100th tour-level title are still alive after cruising past Flavio Cobolli at the Shanghai Masters.
After being pushed all the way by Alex Michelsen in his opener, the Serb looked much more comfortable as he triumphed 6-1 6-2 in the third round in just 64 minutes.
He got an early break to take control in the first set, racing into a 3-0 lead before Cobolli got on the board, but another three-game winning streak for Djokovic gave him the first set.
The Italian started the second set brighter, going toe to toe as they traded blows in the opening games.
However, Djokovic soon regained control, and though Cobolli managed to save five of the nine break points he faced during the match, he could do little as the 37-year-old won the final five games to progress.
Djokovic will now face Roman Safiullin in the fourth round.
Data Debrief: Cruise control
Since the format's inception in 1990, Djokovic (82.02%, 406-89) has surpassed Rafael Nadal (82.00%, 410-90) for the highest winning percentage of any player at ATP Masters 1000 events - minimum 10 matches.
And he did so in dominant fashion. He struck 11 winners in the first set (19 overall), and won 20 of his 24 first-serve points throughout the game (83%).
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