Zhang Zhizhen of China plays a backhand return to Federico Coria of Argentina during their first-round match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Jan 15, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

MELBOURNE - China's Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic stunned third seeds and former champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in a men's doubles thriller on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

The unseeded pairing of Zhang and Machac came from behind to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 36 minutes.

Zhang, who is ranked world No 625 in doubles, combined with Machac to produce a considerable third-round upset.

Zhang also became the first player from the Chinese mainland to reach the quarterfinals of the men's doubles at any Grand Slam in the Open Era

Doubles specialists Ram of the US and Britain's Salisbury had won the last three US Open men's doubles titles and were eyeing their first triumph at Melbourne Park since 2020.

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Zhang and Machac appeared to have a mountain to climb after losing the opening set, but raised their level to force a decider. The momentum continued when they broke Salisbury's serve in the third game as Zhang and Machac held their nerve to claim the best doubles win of their careers.

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It's a boost for Zhang, China's highest-ranked men's singles player, who fell in the men's singles second round to 21st seed Ugo Humbert in four sets.

Zhang also became the first player from the Chinese mainland to reach the quarterfinals of the men's doubles at any Grand Slam in the Open Era.

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"I never thought that I could still play men's doubles in the second week of the Australian Open, and today's result indeed came as a surprise to me. After winning our openers in singles, both of us took our first-round doubles match seriously and have now made it through to the quarterfinals”, Zhang told reporters.

While reviewing their on-court performance in the third round, Zhang noted that they didn't find their form in the first set, which resulted in their opponents' breaking serve in the fourth game.

"But from the second set, we became more aggressive with returning serve and lifted our level to win the match”, he added.