Gael Monfils wants to remain true to himself and is not dreaming of grand slam glory at the Australian Open.

Monfils, who earlier in January became the oldest-ever winner of an ATP Tour trophy, has become one of the standout stories at Melbourne Park.

The 38-year-old booked his place in the last 16 with a 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 victory over fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday.

Monfils became the second-oldest man to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open, after Roger Federer, since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.

He has never won a grand slam, with his best finishes coming in runs to the semi-finals of the 2008 French Open and 2016 US Open.

But despite his brilliant form in Melbourne, Monfils says it is not his dream to win a major.

"Win? No, you know, to be honest with you, it is not even a dream to win the tournament," he said.

"My dream is to be old and with a lot of kids and healthy.

"I'll tell you my dream. My dream is to have an unbelievable family. Tennis is cool. Of course, you want to have a goal, dream, whatever. But that is not my dream."

Monfils, the oldest player to beat a top-five-ranked opponent at the Australian Open, celebrated his victory with an impromptu dance on the court.

When he was asked by Stats Perform if his decision to dance was a result of the freedom he is playing with, Monfils replied: "Yes, I think you're right.

"I felt good. I felt at this moment, I wanted to do that. I want to be myself. I had this in my mind, so I just did what was in my mind. That was my way to express my joy."

It was a fantastic day for Monfils and his family, as his wife Elina Svitolina subsequently followed in her husband's footsteps at Margaret Court Arena.

Svitolina, who in the last round became the sixth active player to secure 100 WTA Tour-level match wins, came from a set down to beat fourth seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6 6-4 6-0 and tee up a last-16 tie with Veronika Kudermetova.

It marked only the second time in her career that Svitolina has registered a bagel against an opponent ranked in the top five, after she previously did so against Simona Halep in 2018.

"It was a crazy battle, I want to say I got inspired by my husband's win," Svitolina said on court. "But I played so bad the first set, I'm not sure I was inspired!"

In her press conference, Svitolina said: "We both were a set down, both against really tough opponents who are not making many mistakes, who know how to win big matches.

"I'm really proud of myself, of Gael, that we didn't give up, that we believed in our game, believed that we could win."

She also suggested the media are too focused on Monfils' age.

"I feel like with you guys all the time mentioning his age, he feels that he still has a lot of energy in his tank," she said. "He wants to prove it. He wants to bring the battle."