As for Berdych, his reward is a place in the fourth round and a meeting with Roberto Bautista Agut, who defeated Marin Cilic earlier. Berdych will be delighted to avoid Cilic, who beat him at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2014. As for me, that’s the end of today’s blog. It’s all over until tomorrow, when we’ll have live coverage of Andy Murray v Joao Sousa at 8am GMT. Thanks for reading and commenting. Bye!
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Kyrgios didn’t exactly cover himself in glory as he walked off court. “That’s terrible refereeing,” he says to umpire James Keothavong. It’s that kind of undignified, graceless behaviour that fuels the criticism of Kyrgios. He needs to cut it out.
Tomas Berdych beats Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4!
At 0-15, Berdych drifts a forehand down the line. It’s out, it’s out, it’s out all the way. Relax, it’s going to be 15-all. Or is it? It’s in! Talk about fine margins. Kyrgios can hardly believe it as the ball clips the line for 0-30, before a crunching forehand winner earns Berdych three match points. Kyrgios isn’t finished just yet, saving the first match point with a cracking forehand into the corner. And then he double-faults. Whoops. The youngster bows out on a suitably peculiar note, but it feels like a fitting way for this maddeningly frustrating talent to lose. Berdych is a deserved winner, ruthless and clinical in the first two sets, composed and experienced in the fourth after Kyrgios came roaring back in the third. There were flashes of class from Kyrgios, but that’s not enough at this level.
Berdych is making a meal out of this service game, two double-faults giving Kyrgios a glimmer of hope. The game goes to 40-30 – yet Kyrgios can’t take advantage, knocking a forehand long to make it 5-4 to Berdych, who is a game away from the fourth round.
Kyrgios is lobbing boulders over the net. He holds for 4-4 in the fourth set. The tension is building, not that there wasn’t time for Kyrgios to duff a tweener into the net, just for a laugh.
Kyrgios briefly looks like he might be checking out when he’s down two break points at 3-2 in the fourth set. Yet he gets himself out of a sticky situation with some monstrous serving, combined with some neat volleying, and he holds to level the set at 3-3. This is the kind of inspired spell that makes him look like a future champion.
Carla Suarez Navarro, the 10th seed, is into the fourth round to face Daria Gavrilova. Trailing by a set and a break, her opponent Elizaveta Kulichkova has retired early in the second se.
Solid serving from Berdych takes him into a 2-1 lead at the start of the fourth set. One break. He just needs one little break and a place in the fourth round will surely be his.
We’ve got a match on our hands now! Nick Kyrgios batters an ace down the middle on set point and we’re going into a fourth on Rod Laver Arena. Berdych leads 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, but he could do with dousing the Kyrgios flame sooner rather than later, else this could get very messy indeed for the Czech.
Kyrgios is bounding around behind the baseline and lapping up the acclaim after an outrageously lazy, wonderfully inspired forehand swipe past Berdych for deuce. That’s him in a nutshell. He can make it look so easy. Berdych, however holds to get himself on the board in the third set. Kyrgios will serve for it at 5-1 and your guess is as good as mine.
So leaden in the first two sets, Kyrgios is rampant now! A stunned Berdych plonks a forehand wide and Kyrgios breaks again to lead 4-0 in the third set.
Roberto Bautista Agut beats Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-5, 7-5!
Marin Cilic doesn’t get his tie-break. He saved three match points, but he couldn’t save a fourth, dragging a forehand wide, and the former US Open champion, a semi-finalist here in 2010 and the 12th seed this year, is out, beaten 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 by Roberto Bautista Agut. That may well be the biggest win of Bautista Agut’s career. The 24th seed moves into the fourth round, where he will face either Tomas Berdych or Nick Kyrgios on Sunday.
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Kyrgios consolidates the break. He leads 3-0 in the third set and he’s woken up at last. He’s come back from two sets down before.
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The Spaniard does not take the third opportunity. Cilic is determined to force another tie-break.
Marin Cilic, down two sets, saves two match points. It’s 6-5 to Bautista Agut in the third set - and the Spaniard has a third opportunity.
And over on Rod Laver Arena, an errant backhand from Berdych sees Kyrgios break for the first time at the start of the third set! There’s life in this one yet.
Daria Gavrilova beats Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 4-6, 11-9
Serving for the match, Gavrilova loses the first point, but she’s two points from victory when she wins the next two for a 30-15 lead and soon she has two match points. The home fans are loving this. Yet Mladenovic isn’t going to make it easy for her, saving the first with a glorious forehand pass down the line to make it 40-30. We go again. Another rally. It’s cautious from Gavrilova, who’s waiting for a mistake from Mladenovic. And the ploy works. The mistake comes, Mladenovic hopping into a mistimed forehand and spooning it past the baseline! Gavrilova is into the fourth round, but first she’s going to need a long lie-down!
We’ve got a breakthrough on Hisense Arena! Daria Gavrilova breaks for a 10-9 lead and she’ll serve for the match again against Kristina Mladenovic!
Berdych clatters a backhand down the line and Kyrgios is forced to hit a forehand long, handing over two set points. He responds by chucking his racket to the floor again. Berdych still isn’t fazed, whooshing an ace down the middle to take a two-set lead. He’s up 6-3, 6-4 and although Kyrgios continues his spat with the umpire once he’s back in his seat, he’d be much better of putting all that pent-up aggression into his tennis, rather than worrying about why life is just so unfair. Maybe he’s trying to gee himself up by manufacturing a row, but it doesn’t appear to be getting him anywhere. His tennis is flat.
Nick Kyrgios has had a furious exchange with the umpire about music being played during the point in the previous game. He’s losing his cool. Tomas Berdych, meanwhile, is an oasis of calm, sitting on his chair with his eyes closed, barely moving an inch, drowning out the noise and focusing on the task in hand. He’s about to serve for the second set at 5-4.
While Nick Kyrgios strays dangerously close towards bringing out his sulky teenager routine, which isn’t a great look for a 20-year-old, it’s 8-8 in the third set between Kristina Mladenovic and Daria Gavrilova. What a match!
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Kyrgios is having an argument with the umpire between serves. He’s doing a sarcastic smile. He can’t let his frustration get the better of him.
Tomas Berdych hasn’t been fazed at all by the challenge of playing the home favourite. He continues to rumble towards a two-set lead, holding for 5-3 in the second set. There’s barely a flicker of emotion as he strides back to the baseline. Kyrgios is struggling to handle his thudding power.
Nick Kyrgios is being outclassed by Tomas Berdych on Rod Laver Arena. The Czech breaks to 15 for a 4-3 lead in the second set and Kyrgios looks flummoxed as he walks back to his chair. The atmosphere has fallen flat, the sting surgically removed from the occasion by Berdych’s excellence.
On and on and on they go on Hisense Arena, where Kristina Mladenovic holds to lead 7-6 against Daria Gavrilova in a tense third set. Gavrilova must hold.
Novak Djokovic beats Andrea Seppi 6-1, 7-5, 7-6
Novak Djokovic is relentless. Even when he’s below his best, he’s still so hard to shake off. Andrea Seppi had two set points in the tie-break, but it wasn’t long before his advantage had evaporated, before he knocked one long to give Djokovic his first match point. That’s all he needs. Seppi is forced into another error and Djokovic lets out a primal roar. He marches into the fourth round and even though this won’t go down as his most convincing win, the world No1 is yet to drop a set. Gilles Simon, you’re next.
And Seppi can’t take the second point, dumping a tight backhand into the net! It’s 6-6 in the tie-break.
And a loose point from Djokovic hands Seppi a set point. Djokovic serves. It’s a tense point, but Djokovic survives for now, overcoming Seppi at the net. Seppi will serve for the set at 6-5.
So brilliant in set one, Novak Djokovic has played some scratchy tennis against Andrea Seppi in sets two and three. They’re locked in a tie-break on Margaret Court Arena. Djokovic led 4-2, but now he’s serving at 5-4 down.
Daria Gavrilova has squandered so many opportunities to win her match on Hisense Arena that it now looks inevitable that she’s going to lose. Three times she’s failed to press home her advantage now, the latest bout of profligacy coming when she was serving for the match against Kristina Mladenovic, who now leads 6-5 after winning two straight games. Gavrilova is serving to stay in the tournament now.
Marin Cilic’s prospects were looking much brighter 20 minutes ago, when he had the chance to level the match on Court 2. He served for the second set against Roberto Bautista Agut – but he was broken and now he’s two sets down after losing the tie-break. Bautista Agut is a set away from securing an excellent win. He leads the 12th seed 6-4, 7-6.
While one young Aussie struggles, another is making waves on Hisense Arena, where the crowd has been treated to an erratic, topsy-turvy, entertaining match by Daria Gavrilova and Kristina Mladenovic. Gavrilova has broken and she’s now about to serve for a place in the fourth round.
Kyrgios flings his racket to the ground after chucking a backhand into the net to give Berdych two set points. Etiquette enthusiasts will be jotting that moment of indiscipline down; it will be useful ammunition against the young Australian later. But Kyrgios has bigger things to worry about. The first set is Berdych’s, 6-3, when he stings an excellent backhand down the line. Berdych has been untouchable so far.
Kyrgios holds. Berdych will serve for the first set at 5-3.
They’ll need a tie-break to settle the second set on Court 2. Bautista Agut is proving to be a troublesome opponent for Marin Cilic.
Kyrgios is beginning to get more of a read on the big Berdych serve. The Czech can get frustrated when that happens and at 30-all, he whacks a wild forehand long to give up a break point. Yet Kyrgios sends a return long to take the game to deuce, his shoulders slumping as the ball floats past the baseline. Berdych has a game point soon after that. Kyrgios, however, is starting to enjoy himself and he prolongs the game with a majestic crosscourt forehand winner, before earning another break point when Berdych chops a weird backhand volley long. Yet Berdych comes up with a stonking forehand to force deuce and he grinds out an important hold to lead 5-2.
Bjorn Borg wasn’t bad, was he?
Federer's a genius, and with longevity. But Borg's win % at Slams was just staggering pic.twitter.com/heZ6F9rtPO
— sportingintelligence (@sportingintel) January 22, 2016
Marin Cilic appeared to be back on track on Court 2, up a break and serving for the second set against Roberto Bautista Agut. Think again. Bautista Agut has broken to trail 5-4 and he’ll now serve to prolong that set. Remember, the Spaniard took the first set 6-4.
Crash! Bang! Wallop! Supreme hitting from Tomas Berdych sees him break for a 3-1 lead on Rod Laver Arena, a stranded, sweaty Kyrgios unable to retrieve a killer forehand.
Just as she did in the second set, Daria Gavrilova has squandered a break at the start of the third set against Kristina Mladenovic. The Australian can’t pull away and her French opponent leads 2-1 in the decider. In other Australian news, it’s been a tight start on Rod Laver Arena between Nick Kyrgios and Tomas Berdych.
It’s not all been plain sailing for Novak Djokovic, even though he leads by two sets to love. He’s just had to save two break points to hold for 2-2 in the third set against a spirited Andrea Seppi, who’s had his chances in the past hour.
Novak Djokovic frittered away one set point with a double-fault - he wasn’t at his best in the second set - but he’s surely heading for the fourth round now that he leads 6-1, 7-5 against Andrea Seppi. On Rod Laver Arena, meanwhile, Kyrgios and Berdych are knocking up.
Nick Kyrgios, wearing that red vest, is out on Rod Laver Arena. The 29th seed will have to be good to beat Tomas Berdych, the sixth seed, but he’ll have plenty of home backing. Expect fireworks. Forget Federer v Dimitrov, this could be the match of the day.
Daria Gavrilova was a set and a break up, but momentum is no longer with the young Australian. Kristina Mladenovic will feel that it’s her match to lose as she levels it up, taking the second set 6-4.
Novak Djokovic bides his time. He lets Andrea Seppi have his fun. He gives him hope. He makes him think he’s in this. That it’s going to be a famous comeback. Then he breaks for a 6-5 lead in the second set. Ruthless.
Understatement of the day goes to Serena Williams. “I thought I played well today,” the world No1 says.
Serena Williams wasn’t detained for long on Rod Laver Arena, dismissing Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-1. That took 44 minutes! Wow. Williams will face another Russian, Margarita Gasparyan, in the fourth round.
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Is it an upset if Bautista Agut beats Marin Cilic? Maybe not. Bautista Agut is a fine player, as he proved in a tough defeat to Djokovic at the US Open last year. Even so, Cilic is a grand slam champion and he’s seeded much higher than Bautista Agut, who’s won the first set 6-4.
Gavrilova’s focus slips and Mladenovic breaks straight back for 2-2 in the second set. Djokovic has saved a break point and held for 3-3 in the second set.
Roberto Bautista Agut has been forcing the issue against Marin Cilic on Court 2 and having missed a couple of chances to break at 2-2 in the first set, the Spaniard has just broken to love for a 4-3 lead. Cilic, the 12th seed and former US Open champion, could be in for a long night against the 24th seed.
Daria Gavrilova is dominant against Kristina Mladenovic. She now leads by a set and a break.
Serena Williams crashes a forehand away and the first set is in the bag. She takes it 6-1 and Daria Kasatkina doesn’t look like she knows what’s hit her.
The first set goes to Daria Gavrilova, who takes it 6-4 against Kristina Mladenovic. Having beaten Petra Kvitova on Wednesday, it seems that the young Australian means business.
It was a mournful day for Australian tennis yesterday, as Lleyton Hewitt’s singles career ended with a straight sets defeat to David Ferrer. But this could be a day to remember. Nick Kyrgios is in action against Tomas Berdych later, while Daria Gavrilova has broken for a 4-3 lead against 28th seed Kristina Mladenovic on Hisense Arena.
But Novak Djokovic has won the first set. 6-1. Andrea Seppi is frazzled. Can you blame him?
Andrea Seppi has won a game!
The searing lack of drama builds on Margaret Court Arena, where Novak Djokovic breaks again for a 4-0 lead against poor Andrea Seppi. Djokovic appears to be in an unforgiving mood.
Ranked 69th in the world, 18 years old and playing in the third round of the Australian Open for the first time, does Daria Kasatkina have any hope against Serena Williams? After wins over Ana Konjuh and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, the Russian waves shyly as she walks out on to Rod Laver Arena, but it might not take long for the world No1 to wipe that shy smile off Kasatkina’s face.
Novak Djokovic has taken all of nine minutes to establish a 3-0 lead over Andrea Seppi in the first set. Can anyone stop the world No1?
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The conqueror of Caroline Wozniacki has met her match in the shape of Margarita Gasparyan. Yulia Putintseva is no more, defeated 6-3, 6-4 by her Russian opponent, who will face either Serena Williams or Daria Kasatkina next. It’s probably not going to be an all-Russian affair in the next round.
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Novak Djokovic is djuking it out with Andrea Seppi on Margaret Court Arena. They’re just underway over there. It should be routine for Djokovic against the 28th seed – though let’s not forget that Seppi knocked Federer out last year or that the Italian was once two sets up against Djokovic. Sure, he didn’t actually beat the world No1, but that’s just a minor detail, isn’t it?
Gilles Simon has finished his swift demolition of Argentina’s Federico Delbonis. A 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory will boost the 14th seed’s confidence before a probable fourth-round encounter with Novak Djokovic. Although it will probably need to boost it a lot.
He’s 24, so it’s too early to write him off. Remember that Stan Wawrinka took a while to fully make the most of his potential, winning his first grand slam at the age of 28. It was only when he lost a classic match to Djokovic in the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2013 that he began to look like a contender. He’d struggled to make much of an impact until then. So there’s time for Dimitrov. But even with the elbow injury today, he still needs to choose his shots with more care and also guard against dips in big matches. You can get away with it against Marco Trungelliti, but not against Roger Federer.
Later on Rod Laver Arena, we’ve got Nick Kyrgios versus Tomas Berdych. But first it’s Serena Williams against the Russian teenager, Daria Kasatkina. They’ll be on court in 30 minutes or so. Novak Djokovic and Andrea Seppi will also be out on Margaret Court Arena soon.
As for Grigor Dimitrov, he demonstrated why it is so absurd that he has fallen to 28th in the world rankings. The young Bulgarian really should be hovering around the top 10 and that’s clearly an achievable goal if he can regain some consistency. That was a bit more like the Dimitrov of 2014, when he got to the quarter-final of this tournament and the Wimbledon semi-final.
Roger Federer beats Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Pulled to the net, Dimitrov slaps a tired backhand into the net to hand over two match points. They’re Federer’s first of the match. The crowd cheers. They cheer louder when a Federer serve flies down the middle – but it’s not an ace, it’s not the end, it’s wide. He goes down the middle again. He fires wide again! Federer double-faults on match point, but the stay of execution for Dimitrov doesn’t last long. He deflects a big serve back into play, but it merely sets Federer up for a simple forehand winner, and this time he doesn’t miss. It’s over. Federer is through to face David Goffin in the fourth round after securing his 300th victory at a grand slam and although he made a relatively slow start, dropping his first set of the tournament, it was an immaculate performance from the world No3 in the end. “It was a difficult situation for me,” Federer says, when asked about the first two sets. “He was playing well and I was struggling a little bit. Maybe I was tired. It was complicated.”
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Gutsy Grigor holds again. Now he’s going to have to break. Because Roger Federer is about to serve for the match.
Federico Delbonis is going to have to produce something special to escape from the hole that Gilles Simon is building for him on Hisense Arena. Simon leads 6-3, 6-2 and it will take an almighty collapse from the Frenchman to lose from here. On Court 2, meanwhile, Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan has won the first set 6-3 against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Federer is unable to secure the double break and Dimitrov, whose injured elbow is causing him huge bother, somehow manages to hold. Federer leads 4-3.
An ominous performance from Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeats Monica Puig 6-4, 6-0. Radwanska will face Anna Lena Friedsam in the fourth round.
Federer sees off a break point with an ace and then he frustrates Dimitrov at the net with a display of magnificent volleys. He holds for a 4-2 with another ace and after a ropey start, he is looking magnificent.
The 14th seed, Gilles Simon, is in good spirits. He’s up a set and a break against Federico Delbonis. Problem is, though, all this hard work probably means he gets to play none other than Novak Djokovic next.
Dimitrov is skating on thin ice, serving at 2-2 in the fourth set, down 0-30. He fights back to 30-all, defending with admirable grit, but Federer clenches his fist after earning a break point with a trademark backhand down the line. Federer is moving so well. It’s like his feet barely touch the ground. He skips around the baseline, deflecting everything back over the net, and his outstanding defensive skills eventually draws the crucial error from Dimitrov, who puts too much oomph into a forehand that sails a good few yards past the baseline. Federer breaks for what should be a decisive 3-2 lead in the fourth set and Dimitrov looks glum.
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Friedsam will await the winner of the mach on Margaret Court Arena, where Agnieszka Radwanska is taking on Monica Puig. Radwanska has cruised into a 6-4, 3-0 lead and the fourth seed is surely on her way into the fourth round.
What’s happened elsewhere? Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was comfortable against his fellow Frenchman, Pierre-Hugues Hubert, winning 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 to set up a tasty fourth-round match against Kei Nishikori, who defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in four sets. Nishikori will be out for revenge after losing to Tsonga in last year’s French Open in five sets. David Goffin is also through after beating Dominic Thiem 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. The Belgian, who always seems like a fourth round kind of guy to me, will face Federer or Dimitrov next.
In the women’s draw, Belinda Bencic’s hopes of becoming the first teenager to win a grand slam since Maria Sharapova won the US Open in 2006 could be stopped by, er, Maria Sharapova. They’ll meet in the fourth round after Bencic beat Kateryna Bondarenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and Sharapova won a curiously lopsided match against Lauren Davis, coming through 6-1, 6-7, 6-0. And recovery of the day goes to Anna Lena Friedsam, the world No82 fighting back from a humiliating first set to defeat US Open finalist Roberta Vinci 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Preamble
Morning! It’s day five of the Australian Open and this blog begins just as the fourth set between Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov gets underway. Don’t worry, you’ve not missed much! Federer took the first set 6-4, one break enough for the world No3, before the young pretender hit back in style in the second set, winning it 6-3 after breaking to love at 2-1. Yet Federer is in control after a dominant third set, winning it 6-1, and Dimitrov has had the trainer on. He could be in trouble. But he’s 1-0 up in the fourth set. Federer is serving...
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Elbow aside, does Dimitrov still have time in his career arc to grow, or do we write off his early potential to be a top 3 player?