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If anyone else had been involved, it would have felt like a marathon, but Greensboro's John Isner was part of redefining the parameters of a tennis match last year and perhaps forever.

"The target is 70-68," someone said loudly in the stands early Saturday when the Page graduate and Marin Cilic arrived at the score of 6-6 in the fifth set.

But there was no getting close to that record target in this Grand Slam match, no approaching Isner's epic three-day victory over the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year and, ultimately, no cause for another celebration from the towering Isner.

Isner's plans of making a big move at this Australian Open foundered on his own remarkable serve when Cilic, seeded 15th, broke him in the 16th game of the final set to win, 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 9-7.

"It's really disappointing," said Isner, the 20th seed, looking as if he meant it. "I didn't want to go out in the Round of 32. It stinks. It's going to be tough to sleep tonight."

Cilic's opponent in the Round of 16 will be Rafael Nadal.

The top-ranked Nadal had a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over 18-year-old wild card Bernard Tomic.

WOZNIACKI ADVANCES: Caroline Wozniacki moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anastasija Sevastova and is just one victory from ensuring she'll retain the top ranking.

The 20-year-old Dane, playing her first major as world No. 1, finished off Sevastova in 1 hour, 20 minutes, capping the match with a powerful forehand winner. She reached the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the first time and keep her top ranking with an appearance in the semis.

U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (3), 6-3, spoiling the Frenchwoman's 21st birthday, and moving a step closer to back-to-back majors.

No. 2 Vera Zvonareva and No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska advanced, as did No. 22 Flavia Pennetta, who ousted No. 10 Shahar Peer.

THE BUBBLE'S BACK: Pesky bubbles keep percolating at Hisense Arena. For the second straight day, a bubble-like pucker rose from the flat blue surface of Melbourne Park's second show court.

Saturday's bubble, inconveniently, emerged during the third-round match between No. 4-seeded Robin Soderling and Jan Hernych. It forced a seven-minute delay while a technician treated the problem by drilling holes and pounding it with a mallet to relieve the pressure.

Soderling beat his Czech opponent 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

A different swelling appeared Friday, and Maria Sharapova noticed it while warming-up for her third-round match against Julia Goerges. She informed the umpire, the warm-up was halted, tournament officials rushed in and the driller arrived.

After that incident, tournament referee Wayne McEwan said moisture from recent rain had gathered under the court's Plexicushion layer but had evaporated as temperatures rose in recent days and caused a pocket of vapor that lifted part of the surface.