Finally, here is Russell Jackson on Nick Kyrgios’ incredible victory. Thanks for following another crazy night finish. Until tomorrow.
Another crazy day of tennis comes to an end. Here is our coverage so far:
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Here is the women’s fourth round draw. Despite six of the top ten players falling over two incredible days, five slam champions remain:
Round of 16 @AustralianOpen
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) January 25, 2020
[1] Barty vs. [18] Riske
[22] Sakkari vs. [7] Kvitova
Gauff vs. [14] Kenin
Jabeur vs. [27] Wang
—
[28] Kontaveit vs. Swiatek
[16] Mertens vs. [4] Halep
Muguruza vs. [9] Bertens
[17] Kerber vs. [30] Pavlyuchenkova#AusOpen
Medvedev wrote "Вперёд, Карен" ( "Come on, Karen") (🎥@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/CVciiYhJJv
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) January 25, 2020
Here is the full (and spectacular) men’s fourth round lineup:
#AusOpen Men's Singles R16
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 25, 2020
[1] Nadal vs. [23] Kyrgios
[10] Monfils vs. [5] Thiem
[4] Medvedev vs. [15] Wawrinka
[7] Zverev vs. [17] Rublev
[12] Fognini vs. Sandgren
[3] Federer vs. Fucsovics
[32] Raonic vs. Cilic
[2] Djokovic vs. [14] Schwartzman
That's a fantastic line up
Thursday: Khachanov wins 10-8 in the final set super tiebreak after 4 hours and 35 minutes
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) January 25, 2020
Saturday: Khachanov loses 10-8 in the final set super tiebreak after 4 hours and 26 minutes
There's no sport like tennis, really.#AusOpen
Finally, Kyrgios on his opponent, Karen Khachanov, who had already won a fifth set tiebreak in his previous round just to make it to Kyrgios:
He’s an absolute warrior. He’s a young kid; he’s younger than me by a year so he’s gonna have an unbelievable career. He’s going to be one to do some special things, that’s for sure. But, man, two back to back 4 hours is not easy. He’s an amazing player. He’s won some amazing titles already so it’s the beginning for him.
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Kyrgios on his physical condition and on recovering after holding match points in the third and fourth tiebreaks:
I just landed on my serve and I felt something. I got some physio. But, man, this is epic. I don’t even know what’s going on. Honestly, my legs feel about 40 kilos each.
I was losing it mentally a little. Obviously it wasn’t easy. Losing the third and the fourth after holding match points. Honestly my support team and you guys just willed me over the line. I thought I was going to lose, honestly.
Nick Kyrgios is in total disbelief here, shaking his head side to side with every syllable:
Man, it was crazy. I don’t even know what to say right now. That was insane. I’ve got no words for how I’m feeling right now. None of that would have happened without my team - they supported me the whole time. But you guys were unbelievable.
Eventually, he stopped speaking and just stared silently at Jim Courier, the interviewer, still shaking his head.
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Just incredible. Kyrgios started well and led *4-3 in the third set, yet Khachanov fought so impressively to dig out the break and the two tiebreaks. In the end, the only thing that really separated them was Kyrgios’ boldness, reflected in the backhand he drilled down the line at 7-8* in the final set tiebreak to scupper the mini-break before snatching victory.
It was so, so difficult, but Kyrgios finally gets the fourth round against Nadal on home soil that he undoubtedly has been craving.
Nick Kyrgios fights back to defeat Karen Khachanov 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 7-6(8)
Incredible. Kyrgios reaches the fourth round of the Australian Open for the third time. He will face Rafael Nadal.
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Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 6-6 (*9-8) Karen Khachanov: Match point Kyrgios!
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 6-6 (8-8*) Karen Khachanov: Astonishing. After a long rally, Kyrgios steps in and crushes a backhand down the line winner to scupper the mini-break.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 6-6 (7-8*) Karen Khachanov: Khachanov snatches the decisive mini-break with a brilliant crosscourt forehand. He now has two serves to win it!
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 6-6 (6-6*) Karen Khachanov: Still there is nothing to separate these two. Khachanov crushed a backhand crosscourt to win his fourth consecutive point for *4-3. Kyrgios snatched the mini-break back with a booming forehand crosscourt winner for 4-4. Khachanov edged ahead at 5-4 with a great overhead, but Kyrgios responded with two brilliant serving points for 6-5. At 6-5, the Russian crushed an unreturned serve to level the tiebreak.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 6-6 (*3-3) Karen Khachanov: All level at the break, After looking like he could run a marathon throughout the regular set, Khachanov opened with two poor errors to hand over the first mini-break. Kyrgios extended his lead to 3-0* with a glorious half-volley drop shot after a serve and volley. Khachanov fought back to 2-3* with two big serves in succession. At 3-2, Kyrgios sent a backhand well wide to hand back the mini-break.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 6-6 Karen Khachanov: Kyrgios made it clear that he was not going to drop his serve here when he opened the game with a 213kmh second serve ace down the T. He did not. After a fourth love hold in a row, a 10 point tiebreak will decide this great battle.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) *5-6 Karen Khachanov: Khachanov slams down another love hold to inch to within a game of victory again. He has lost only three point on his serve in this set and now Kyrgios has to serve to stay in the match for a second time.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 5-5* Karen Khachanov: One game away from defeat, Kyrgios puts together one of his best holds of the set. He finished the love hold with a brilliant curling forehand crosscourt winner from behind the baseline, followed by a huge ace out wide.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) *4-5 Karen Khachanov:
Khachanov breezes through another love game and he has now won 15 points in a row with huge serving and relentless aggression behind his first shot after the serve. However, he should not have won the 15th point. Kyrgios had two easy opportunities to put the ball away but he instead attempted two tweeners, followed by a dropshot into the net. He went for the highlight reel and failed badly. Now he has to serve to stay in the Australian Open.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 4-4* Karen Khachanov:
Goodness, a huge opportunity missed for the Russian. From 40-0, Khachanov dragged Kyrgios back to deuce and landed his return, only to miss a routine backhand well wide. It was a criminal error on a huge point and he knows it. So does Kyrgios and he made the Russian pay for his mistake, immediately slamming down an ace to hold.
9th seed Kiki Bertens is through.
Straight sets for the No. 9 seed 👊@kikibertens continues her #AusOpen run, defeating Zarina Diyas 6-2, 7-6(3). pic.twitter.com/StmQHcjuXg
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 25, 2020
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) *3-4 Karen Khachanov:
Karen Khachanov rolls through another love hold and he has now won 11 straight service points. After dispatching an overhead after a brilliant backhand down-the-line at 30-0, he finished with his second ace of the game. This is still extremely tight and could go either way but Khachanov seems to be in the zone right now.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) 3-3* Karen Khachanov:
Kyrgios holds quickly to level the final set at 3-3, sealed with two successive aces. Kyrgios is now on 28 aces for the match.
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Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) *2-3 Karen Khachanov:
Kyrgios’ service game at 1-2 was certainly an adventure. At 15-0 Khachanov pulled out a successful tweener. After putting away his volley to end the point, the Australian applauded his opponent. When he got to 40-0, Kyrgios joined the fun with an underarm serve that Khachanov easily dispatched. Then at 40-15, Kyrgios walked to the other side of the net to hand the Russian a towel and help him wipe some bird poo off the floor. Finally, he held for 2-2 with a big service winner.
No such drama for Khachanov, who quickly held to love for 3-2 with some huge serving.
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Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-7(7) *1-2 Karen Khachanov: Khachanov comes through the first tough hold of the final set, digging himself out of a 15-30 hole after dumping a tired backhand into the net at 15-15. He responded at 15-30 with a big serve and forehand down-the-line winner followed and a nice foray to the net, finishing with a tidy volley winner. With a forehand error from Kyrgios, Khachanov moved ahead 2-1. Danger averted.
As that tiebreak was concluding, 4th seed Daniil Medvedev eased into the fourth round with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 win over Alexei Popyrin. The backstage cameras just caught him watching his compatriot on the screens. He faces a tough battle with Stan Wawrinka next.
What a nervy, nervy tiebreak that was. Both players wobbled and served poorly on some important points, but Khachanov has been exceptional in the final two sets whenever he has needed to be. A well deserved fifth set for the Russian after some fighting back brilliantly over the past couple of hours. Khachanov may hold the momentum, but Kyrgios is still right there. A tight final set to come.
Karen Khachanov recovers from two sets down to push Nick Kyrgios into a 5th set: 2-6 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 7-6(7)
After a long rally, a Kyrgios forehand flies wide to hand over the set. We’re going to five sets!
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Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-6 (*7-8) Karen Khachanov. After a solid overhead from Khachanov at 5-5, Nick Kyrgios saved set point at 6-5 to with a service winner. At 6-6, Kyrgios swept into the net after a big forehand, dispatching a forehand volley to bring up match point. Kyrgios dumped a backhand passing shot into the net on set point and Khachanov found an ace to bring up a second set point.
Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-6 (*4-4) Karen Khachanov. Tense moments. After four points on serve, Kyrgios handed the first mini-break to Khachanov on a platter with a weak double fault for 3-2 to the Russian.
The Australian responded well by forcing a forehand error from Khachanov with a solid down-the-line backhand. At 3-3, Kyrgios landed a great backhand down the line return to move up *4-3. Kyrgios then dumped a nervy forehand into the net for 4-4.
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Khachanov holds serve to force a fourth set tiebreak: Kyrgios leads 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 6-6. Kyrgios did his very best to pressure the Russian, crunching a crosscourt backhand winner for 40-30. However, Khachanov found a huge first serve down the T to hold once more. Both players are playing very well and this will be a tough, tough tiebreak.
Kyrgios holds for 6-5* in the fourth set. After a brilliant love hold from Khachanov to keep the pressure on the Aussie’s shoulders, Kyrgios responded with an excellent hold of his own. He closed it out to 15 with a sickly sweet lob, followed by a brilliant service winner that, according to Khachanov’s hawk eye challenge, barely touched the line. Khachanov will serve to stay in the match for a second time.
Kyrgios held serve for 5-4* in the fourth set with two spectacular aces, but more notably, the drama has arrived. Early in the game, Kyrgios attempted to finish a brilliant point with a tweener and he failed spectacularly, hurting himself in the process. As Kyrgios looked after his bleeding hand, the umpire didn’t see the injury so he gave Kyrgios a time violation. Cue plenty of arguing and the Australian brandishing his bloody towel and bleeding hand to the umpire. It was clearly a misunderstanding and thankfully Kyrgios returned to the baseline without any further issues.
Karen Khachanov levels Nick Kyrgios in the fourth set: 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) *4-4 to Kyrgios. Both men are finally playing well at once and it is quite glorious. With Kyrgios snapping at his heels and desperately attempting to push him to deuce, Khachanov pulled off an exceptional high backhand overhead over his left shoulder to seal the hold at 40-30.
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Nick Kyrgios saves two break points to edge ahead 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 4-3*. The tension is rising and so is the quality of tennis. Khachanov came up with a miraculous three points - a great forehand return followed by two backhand winners - to bring up two break points.
Kyrgios responded with one of his most absurd shots of the tournament. On the first break point, Khachanov crushed a forehand crosscourt, dragging Kyrgios wide. Most players would struggle to deal with the pace of the shot, but not Kyrgios. He used his racquet strings as a cushion and redirected it as perfect drop shot off a 90 miles per hour forehand. Then he banged down a few big serves to hold.
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Current scores:
Rod Laver Arena: Daniil Medvedev leads Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-3 and is a set from the fourth round.
Margaret Court Arena: Kiki Bertens has started brilliantly and is up 6-2 on Zarina Diyas.
Melbourne Arena: Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov are still on serve in the fourth set, with the score 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 3-2*. Khachanov currently has the trainer out for his right arm.
Khachanov deserves so much credit for how he turned the fourth set around. Against an unpredictable, vocal opponent and a crowd cheering hard for his demise, he was down two sets and a break and playing a rancid match.
Kyrgios’ concentration may have lapsed a little as the finish line neared but the Russian broke back at 3-4 with three spectacular shots. He then put immense pressure on Kyrgios’ serve in the final game before the tiebreak and he played the big points perfectly on his serve. Momentum is so fickle in tennis and now it is firmly behind him. At the very least he should force Kyrgios to elevate his own game in order to win this match.
Karen Khachanov saves match point to push Nick Kyrgios into a fourth set. Kyrgios leads 6-2 7-6(5) 6-7(6). What a topsy-turvy tiebreak that was. Khachanov burst into the lead at *5-3, only for Kyrgios to win three straight points to bring up match point.
Khachanov found a big service winner to scupper the match point and then dispatched an awkward overhead to bring up set point. With a wild Kyrgios forehand error, we’re heading to four.
Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov are off to another tiebreak: 6-2 7-6(5) 6-6: Goodness, that service game was tough. Kyrgios led 30-0 before being dragged back to 30-30 with a gorgeous Khachanov passing shot.
Kyrgios produced a wonderful drop shot at 30-30 and then when he was pushed back to deuce, he came up with a sublime angled drop volley before holding with a booming ace. The tension is building and he is starting to mutter between points and complain, but he responded to the pressure beautifully there.
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Alexander Zverev outclasses Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-2 6-4 to reach round four
Sascha Zverev is into the second week of a slam without dropping a single set. Considering he is well known for dragging himself into unnecessarily long 5 set matches, this is very notable.
After his horrific first week of the year at the ATP Cup, in which he lost three matches and served dozens of double faults, nobody is really talking about Zverev despite the fact that he is clearly playing well. He will face the in-form Andrey Rublev in the fourth round and we will know just how well he is playing if he can come through that tricky encounter.
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Finally, Khachanov is stepping up and showing what he can do. Out of nowhere the Russian has won three games in a row, including a run of 11 points of 12 to move up 5-4* in the third.
Although the Aussie finished with a clownish drop shot into the net, Khachanov broke with an exceptional return game. He crushed a backhand down the line winner, struck a lovely a drop shot winner and then he sent backhand return flying past Kyrgios. Great work.
Nick Kyrgios is inching closer to the fourth round. He consolidated the break with a vicious 155kmh forehand down-the-line winner followed by a service winner to hold. Khachanov then threw down a love hold of his own for 6-2 7-6(5) *4-3. Two games away.
Nick Kyrgios breaks serve in the third set to move ahead 6-2 7-6(5) *3-2. More accurately, Khachanov just broke himself. A horrendous game from the Russian filled with errors. At 0-30, he shanked a routine backhand wide to give up three break points and then he served his second double fault of the game to hand it over on a platter.
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One more comment on that violent performance from Garbiñe Muguruza:
Muguruza finished with 84% (21/25) first serves won. 31 winners and 9 unforced errors. 87% (14/16) net points won. 53% receiving points won.
In the second set, poor Svitolina hit 10 winners and 8 unforced errors with 72% first serves in. She won two games.
Venus Williams, partnering with ATP doubles #1 Juan Sebastian Cabal, falls in the first round of #AusOpen mixed doubles, 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 to Zheng/Vliegen.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 25, 2020
Love that she stuck around for mixed all the same--her continued joy for playing and competing has been so apparent lately.
Other scores:
7th seed Alexander Zverev leads Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-2 2-3 on Margaret Court Arena.
4th seed Daniil Medvedev and Alexei Popyrin are just getting started on Rod Laver Arena. The Aussie leads 1-0*.
Nick Kyrigos takes an impressive 6-2 7-6(5) lead on Karen Khachanov. In a tiebreak filled with great serving and vicious third shots behind the serve, the outcome was defined by two points: A delicate drop shot from Kyrgios behind his serve at 4-4 and then a long point at 5-5 where Kyrgios remained calm, moved Khachanov from side to side and drew out the error.
Kyrgios closed it out with a booming unreturned serve. Extremely mature play from the Aussie to move to within a set of Rafael Nadal.
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With a 115mph ace out wide, Khachanov sends the second set into a tiebreak with a love hold. The Russian cannot afford to lose this.
Nick Kyrgios slams down a couple of huge serves to secure his 10th consecutive point on serve, moving ahead 6-2 6-5*. Khachanov will serve for a second set tiebreak.
Garbiñe Muguruza obliterates 5th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-2
2019 was a tough, tough year for Muguruza as she fell out of the top 30 and played far below the standard set in her rise to number one and two slam titles. At the end of the season, she split with her coach and hired Conchita Martinez. Here she has announced her arrival in the season with an astonishing performance.
Needless to say, she is a contender for this title. The eternal question with Muguruza is whether she can sustain this level consistently. History tells us that she could destroy the field en route to her third slam title or she could hit 90 errors in the next round and lose badly. Who knows?
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Over on Melbourne Arena, Khachanov’s level has risen significantly but the set is still on serve. Kyrgios leads 6-2 4-3*.
Elina Svitolina’s epic hold turned out to just be a brief distraction. Muguruza immediately returned to hitting winners at will, easing through another hold before breaking with another absurd flurry of winners.
Some stats: Muguruza is currently on 28 winners and 8 unforced errors (she had 4 errors until 6-2 3-1). She has won 90% of first serve points (19/21). She is on 87% for net points (13/15). She has captured 54% (28/52) of return points. This may just be the performance of the week. 6-1 5-2.
Elina Svitolina hasn’t been able to do much today because she has simply been hit off the court, but she just pulled out an astonishing hold. In an endless deuce game at 6-1 3-1, Muguruza generated 5 break points. Svitolina saved the break points with 2 backhand winners, 2 forehand winners and 1 point ending forehand. She is far from the biggest hitter, but with her back to the wall she hit out like her life depended on it.
This level from Garbine Muguruza is quite incredible. She nabbed the first break at 1-1 with a touch of pure genius, dinking a delicate defensive lob over Svitolina’s head during a long point before eventually finishing with an even lovelier dropshot winner. She is now prowling at 6-1 3-1*, pounding the ball and looking for a second break.
Nick Kyrgios saves break point to hold for 6-2 2-1*. That was Khachanov’s first proper assault on Kyrgios’ serve, taking advantage of a couple of missed first serves to generate his first break point at 30-40.
How did Kyrgios respond? He threw in a serve and volley, producing two sweet backhand volleys to scupper the break point. With some great serving, he pulled out a really good hold.
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One of the most impressive things about Garbine Muguruza’s game is her constant willingness to move forward to the net and finish points in the forecourt. This is an era where most players only go to the net to shake hands and she is far from a natural at the net, but she always puts herself in the position to make volleys and she is often successful there. She just hit an absolutely gorgeous drop volley to hold for 6-1 1-1*.
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Nick Kyrgios is flowing right now. With a lovely drop shot to lob combination followed by a blinding ace down the T, Kyrgios holds for 6-2 1-0*. This match could get away from Khachanov very quickly if he isn’t careful here.
Nick Kyrgios nabs a second break to take the first set 6-2 on Karen Khachanov. Kyrgios may still be wincing and walking gingerly between points, but after the medical timeout, he was consistent and he moved pretty well as he soaked up Khachanov’s immense pace.
Across the net, Khachanov’s rhythm may have been arrested by the injury break but he is just making life hard for himself in general. Too many wild unforced errors today and his level in the first set wasn’t good enough.
Alexander Zverev is also cruising. He leads Fernando Verdasco *4-1 with a double break.
Over on Rod Laver Arena, the big question was going into this match was what level Muguruza is currently playing at. It’s fair to say that the level is fairly high! She just completely obliterated the fifth seed Svitolina 6-1 in the opening set. The Spaniard lost only 1 point on her first serve, crushing 11 winners with only 3(!) unforced errors. She has been relentlessly aggressive, smashing her backhand and moving into the net whenever she can.
It is pleasing to see Muguruza looking like the two-time slam champion and world number one she is.
Nick Kyrgios grinds out a hold to consolidate his break for 5-2*, but he has called the trainer and is struggling with his left hamstring. The Australian was grimacing and looked far more preoccupied with his hamstring as he was dragged to deuce. With a burst of energy he spectacularly salvaged the service game, crushing a brilliant running crosscourt forehand at deuce and then dismounting with a slick angled dropshot.
The trainer is on and he is now having a medical timeout.
Nick Kyrgios makes the first move on Melbourne Arena, breaking Khachanov for *4-2. Sloppy play from the Russian who dumped a forehand into the net at deuce. The break point was a long, cagey and slow rally until Kyrgios changed it up with a drop shot. The drop shot wasn’t great, but the Russian chased it down and sent his backhand well long.
John Isner retires down 6-4 *4-1 to Stan Wawrinka, sending the Swiss through to the fourth round. No confirmation on the injury but Isner was in long discussion with the doctor after falling down a double break.
Nick Kyrgios just smashed down 3 aces to hold for 2-1 in 46 seconds. The crowd is already rowdy, the Aussie’s arm is already firing. We’re in for a good one.
Garbine Muguruza and Elina Svitolina are also starting now. This head-to-head is a lot more extensive, with Svitolina leading 6-4. Muguruza won their last meeting in Wuhan last year, with Svitolina leading 2-1 in 2019.
This match up is also clearer. Muguruza will be the player hitting with more risks, controlling the points and moving forward to finish points as quickly as she can. The big question is how many unforced errors Svitolina’s stellar defence can draw from her.
Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov are on court. They have only faced each other once before, in that infamous Cincinnati match the Russian eventually won 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-2.
It is difficult to take much from that match, except that Khachanov showed impressive focus to see out the win with so many distractions. There is little doubt that this match will rest on who serves best. In the rallies, Kyrgios will look to disrupt Khachanov at every opportunity with his variety and unpredictability. Kyrgios arrives in better form after two solid performances. By contrast, Khachanov barely survived No 78 Mikael Ymer in a final set tiebreak on Thursday. Let’s see.
Over on Court 3, 15th seed Stan Wawrinka is up 5-3* on 19th seed John Isner. There were rumors today that Wawrinka would under the weather but so far so good for the Swiss.
So what has happened so far today? The women have continued yesterday’s run of top 10 defeats with two further top 10 upsets. 2nd seed Karolina Pliskova was ousted 7-6(4) 7-6(3) by the talented and seasoned Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 30th. 6th seed Belinda Bencic, who memorably reached the US Open semis last year after upsetting defending champion Naomi Osaka, was destroyed by a zoning Anett Kontaveit 6-0 6-1 in just 49 minutes. Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber had no such problems and happily moved into the fourth round.
In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal eased past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1 6-2 6-4 and Dominic Thiem came through a potentially tricky four set match against Taylor Fritz of the United States. The in-form Andrey Rublev, seeded 17th, marched on after beating 11th seed David Goffin. 10th seed Gael Monfils saw off Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.
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Preamble
Hello! Welcome to another evening of Australian Open tennis as the final third round matches are completed. Absolutely nothing will come close to the carnage and drama of yesterday’s action, which saw Naomi Osaka fall to 15 year old Coco Gauff, Serena Williams upset by Wang Qiang, Stefanos Tsitsipas thoroughly beaten by Milos Raonic before Roger Federer barely survived a 5th set tiebreak against John Millman. However, there are some very interesting matches in store.
Rod Laver Arena’s night session will begin with a curious battle between 5th seed Elina Svitolina and two-time slam champion Garbine Muguruza. Muguruza is unseeded after a dire 2019 in which her ranking tumbled and she struggled to find any of the form that propelled her to victories at Roland Garros in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017. She starts this year with a new coach, 1994 Wimbledon champ Conchita Martinez, and there have been some encouraging signs. This should reveal a lot about where Muguruza’s game is as she looks to return to the top 20 and beyond.
Daniil Medvedev will follow against young Australian Alexei Popyrin. After 2019 ended with people certain that a new young slam champion would arrive in the new year, the first events of this new season have been a reality check. Medvedev has probably looked the best and he will be looking to continue his momentum and put himself in the position to compete for the title. Popyrin will have the opportunity to test out his game against a top player and in front of a home crowd. He should relish it.
On Margaret Court Arena, 7th seed Alexander Zverev will face 2009 semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco and he will be looking to gain some momentum after a positive first few rounds in Melbourne. 9th seed and perennial dark horse Kiki Bertens will follow against Zarina Diyas.
And then there is Melbourne Arena, where Nick Kyrgios returns to his favourite court for a match against Karen Khachanov of Russia. This is, of course, a rematch of that match in Cincinnati that lead to Kyrgios being put on probation. But Kyrgios is playing well in Melbourne and he looks comfortable. The Australian has reached only one slam fourth round since 2016 and this seems like a good opportunity to do so again. Let’s see.
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