Thirty-three years have passed since Poland last produced a grand slam quarter-finalist but Wojciech Fibak's heroics of 1980 can finally be laid to rest. Now they have two together. Moreover victories for Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot here on Monday have guaranteed Poland a men's semi-finalist in a grand slam event for the first time in the country's history. Whoever wins their match on Wednesday could face Andy Murray in the last four.

Fibak was thwarted in each of his quarter-finals at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows in a year when Bjorn Borg won his fifth and final title here against John McEnroe in one of the greatest matches to grace the SW19 lawns.

Janowicz's five-set battle with the Austrian Jürgen Melzer, in which he prevailed 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, was not quite as epic but required every ounce of strength the Pole could muster. The world No22 fell to his knees after a fiery encounter that sets up an intriguing contest with his friend and Davis Cup partner Kubot, whose celebration jig after beating Adrian Mannarino in five sets must epitomise the mood back home.

"We are just happy," said Janowicz. "We are happy because what is going on right now is magical. I went straight away to his locker room and we hugged.

"It's unbelievable what is going on. We have two players in the quarter-finals and I think this is by far the best thing that possibly could happen to Polish tennis."

It means two men of the same nationality will play each other at the quarter-final stage or later at Wimbledon for the first time since Pete Sampras beat Jan-Michael Gambill in an all-American tie in 2000.

Sampras is Janowicz's idol and the 6ft 8in giant certainly has a serve to match that of the former champion. But during a victory over Melzer that lasted more than three hours his play from the back of the court was equally impressive.

It was only last year that Janowicz, ranked more than 100 places above Kubot, did not play in qualifying for the Australian Open because he could not afford the flight from Poland.

However, after reaching the final of the Paris Masters last November, beating Murray along the way, the 22-year-old is now one of the most dangerous players left in the draw, although he was highly critical of the Court 12 surface.

"I slipped really badly a few times during this match," Janowicz said. "I think this Court 12 is unplayable, it was in really bad condition today. If I have to compare this court to Centre Court it's completely a different story, the surface was awful for me.

"[There were] so many bad bounces and I slipped four times; this doesn't happen to me too often. Today I didn't play my best tennis so I'm even more happy because I was able to win the match."

Agnieszka Radwanska, the losing women's finalist last year, joined her male compatriots in the quarter-finals, after defeating Tsvetana Pironkova, where she will play the No6 seed, Li Na.

"I think she's on the way to win Wimbledon this year," said Janowicz. "I think right now that tennis is a really famous sport in our country and I hope we'll get still more fans."

Radwanska added of her compatriots' last-eight meeting: "I think this is a huge day for Polish tennis. They have nothing to lose, it will be a very good match."

There were no upsets in the men's draw on Monday with David Ferrer, Juan Martín Del Potro and Fernando Verdasco advancing to the quarter-finals.

Ferrer had to fight back from a set down against Croatia's Ivan Dodig but the world No4 secured a place in the last eight for the second successive year with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory.

The Spaniard will play Del Potro, who overcame Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 despite wearing heavy strapping on his left knee, necessary after a bad fall during his match with Grega Zemlja on Saturday.

It took Verdasco one hour and 49 minutes to reach the quarter-finals here for the first time in his career, becoming the seventh Spaniard to do so in the Open era.