Australian Open 2017: Saturday Results, Highlights, Scores Recap from Melbourne

Saturday at the Australian Open saw the last-16 bracket take shape, as the likes of Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Novak Djokovic's conqueror, Denis Istomin, all came through third-round battles in Melbourne.

Former champion Nadal endured the most gruelling fight, as he needed five sets to see off rising star Alexander Zverev, who previously held a 2-1 lead.

Raonic had a similarly difficult day at the office but prevailed 3-1 over Gilles Simon in a scoreline that didn't quite do justice to the tight nature of the match.

Here's a look at the full results from an entertaining day at the Australian Open:

Match	Result
Ivo Karlovic vs. David Goffin	0-3
Dominic Thiem vs. Benoit Paire	3-1
Roberto Bautista-Agut vs. David Ferrer	3-1
Pablo Carreno-Busta vs. Denis Istomin	2-3
Alexander Zverev vs. Rafael Nadal	2-3
Gilles Simon vs. Milos Raonic	1-3
Gael Monfils vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber	3-0

In the match of the day—and one of the matches of the tournament—2009 champion Nadal had to dig deep and come from behind against German youngster Zverev.

Zverev is widely regarded as one of the most promising young players in the game right now, and the 19-year-old proved as much by outplaying Nadal in the opening set.

SAEED KHAN/Getty Images

Although the No. 9 seed regained his composure to level it up, Zverev got the better of his opponent in a third-set tiebreak to swing the momentum his way.

It looked for all the world as if the German had Nadal where he wanted him and would go on to win, but the 2009 champ started playing a lot more aggressive tennis.

He rattled off two sets in double-quick time to break Zverev's heart and progress, and Australian Open revealed just how much it meant to Nadal:

Nadal is on the hunt this year for just his second Australian Open trophy, and even though he came into the tournament off the back of a lengthy injury spell, he's looking in fine fettle.

He said after the match that his time out was spent preparing for moments like these, via Australian Open:

Nadal will take on Gael Monfils in the last 16 after the Frenchman breezed past Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets on Saturday.

Monfils wobbled at times on serve during the match, but his class prevailed to set up a mouthwatering showdown with Nadal—another game that could well go the distance.

The winner of that match is likely to take on Raonic in the quarter-finals after he saw off the challenge of Simon 3-1.

The big-serving Canadian had to battle hard to defeat the Frenchman, however, and he'll need to be a lot more solid when he takes on Roberto Bautista Agut in the last 16.

Even so, Raonic's record in Melbourne is nothing to sneeze at, having made the last 16 five times—per Australian Open:

The round of 16 kicks off on Sunday, as tournament favourite Andy Murray looks to continue his dominance when he returns to action against Mischa Zverev.

Fellow Brit Dan Evans is also in action against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, trying to keep his fairytale story alive in Melbourne.