Marked by an emotional and symbolic celebration, Ozan Colak of the United States barged his way into contention at the Australian Open Junior Championships with a stunning comeback victory over the much-fancied Mili Poljicak.

Colak found himself staring down the barrel of defeat after losing the opening set before an enthralling recovery saw him prevail 3-6 6-1 7-5 and surge into the last eight of a Junior Grand Slam for the first time.

Switzerland’s Kilian Feldbausch, who defeated Cypriot Constantinos Koshis in straight sets, is his next opponent, with confirmation of the quarter-final line-up ushering in the business end of the tournament.

Colak will continue his Melbourne adventure with belief, confidence and a sizeable chunk of momentum after claiming the significant scalp of No. 2 seed Poljicak. There is, however, a wider and far deeper context to his victory.

After being blighted by a rotator cuff injury last year, Colak’s return to the court proved tricky as he struggled for form and motivation, leading to some “dark times” and a period of introspection.

“This means a lot,” junior world No. 20 Colak told itftennis.com. “Last year was a very tough one for me and just being able to come to a Junior Grand Slam and have a good start to the tournament is definitely a good feeling.

“I was struggling for about seven months after injury and there were times when I just felt I wasn’t enjoying tennis as much as I used to. I was losing my motivation to play and didn’t really enjoy being out there.

“I grew pretty isolated and just began cutting off ties with people. It was a rough time, while I did not really know if I wanted to play tennis anymore. I was going into matches already thinking I was going to lose and not really knowing why I was out there.

“But I started surrounding myself with the right people and started realising that I wasn’t alone. I got the right group around me, made new friends and mentors and since then I feel like I have grown a lot and I am in a good place.

“It was a dark time for my tennis and in my life, but it is great to be out of it and I am just really grateful to be here. I am happy to be playing some good tennis and succeeding is a very good feeling.”

Poljicak, who has risen to No. 2 in the junior standings and entered the tournament following a morale-boosting victory at J1 Traralgon, is the highest-ranked player Colak has defeated during his fledgling career.

With Colak’s passion and appetite for the game seemingly restored, and with five ITF World Tennis Tour junior titles to his name, including his best to date at J1 Barranquilla in March 2021, the foundations for greater success are there.

“I got the job done today and at the end of the day that is all I can ask for,” said Colak. “It feels good to be in the quarter-finals but there is still a job to be done and I am just looking forward to the next match now.

“There were a lot of emotions, but I just have to re-set and focus on my next match as much as I can. It was a big win, but I expect this of myself. Reaching the quarter-finals is affirmation that the work I am doing and the things that I believe in are working.”

Elsewhere in the boys’ draw, No. 1 seed Bruno Kuzuhara comfortably booked his place in the quarter-finals courtesy of a 6-4 6-1 triumph over Argentina’s Lautaro Midon.

Brazil-born Kuzuhara of the United States will face Edas Butvilas in the last eight after the Lithuanian defeated Coleman Wong 7-6(4) 6-1 in a battle of past Junior Grand Slam doubles champions.

No. 3 Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay will also be making an appearance in the quarters following a commanding 6-2 6-2 win against Croatia’s Dino Prizmic. Mexico’s Rodrigo Pacheco, who defeated Jakub Nicod 7-5 6-3, will be his opponent.

The other quarter-final showdown for the boys will be between Russia’s Yaroslav Demin and Jakub Mensik of Czech Republic following their victories over American Yannick Rahman and Australian wild card Hayden Jones respectively.

In the girls’ draw, top seed Petra Marcinko is safely through to the last eight following a comprehensive 6-3 6-1 victory over Bulgaria’s Denislava Glushkova. Serbia’s Lola Radivojevic lies in wait after she beat Kenyan history-maker Angella Okutoyi 6-2 6-3.

Liv Hovde of the United States is also through after her opponent, No. 3 seed Ksenia Zaytseva, was forced to retire due to heat stress with the score at 6-3 3-0 in the American’s favour.

Hovde will now draw swords with Greece’s Michaela Laki, who held her nerve during a tense and drama-filled showdown with Czech Republic’s Dominika Salkova to prevail 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(8).

The remaining last-eight ties see Germany’s Carolina Kuhl do battle with Australia’s Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz, while there will be a potentially mouth-watering showdown between Russia’s Diana Shnaider and Sofia Costoulas of Belgium, who are the Nos. 2 and 8 seeds respectively.

Shnaider overpowered American Qavia Lopez 6-2 6-2 in the third round today, while Costoulas emerged from a nail-biting clash with Celine Naef of Switzerland, which ended 7-6(3) 7-6(5).

Further information on the Australian Open Junior Championships, including a full set of results, is available here.