With ATP Finals qualification possible, Hurkacz will be highly motivated, but the home crowd could give the southpaw enough of a boost.

It's hard to believe that some of today's top pros once had to qualify—and often together.

The Frenchman fell in the fourth-round, but he put on a show during his Australian Open campaign. 

The 20-time Grand Slam winner clinched a 28-minute tiebreak—the longest of his career—on his way to the quarterfinals. 

The fifth competitor to punch her ticket to Guadalajara, Sakkari's Kremlin Cup campaign continues against Simona Halep Friday.

On Tuesday, Roger Federer's opponent, Adrian Mannarino, was forced to retire in their fifth set having earlier slipped on a closed Centre Court. A short time later, Serena Williams was struck by a similar fate in her opener with Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

"I wish him all the best, I hope he recovers quickly so we can see him on the court," said the eight-time champion. "He could have won the match at the end, obviously he was the better player. I definitely got a bit lucky."

Aslan Karatsev's recent run, and those of others, shows it's never too late to break out.

The Italian phenom is one win away from an ATP final debut, but first he'll need to outsmart the savvy Frenchman.