The third round of the 2025 Australian Open is officially underway at Melbourne Park on Friday, and following a mightily eventful Night 5, Day 6 has plenty to live up to.
Watch every ball of The 2025 Women’s Ashes Series LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
The men’s two and three seeds enter respective battles this afternoon, while the women’s No.1 kickstarts the Rod Laver Arena action against a heavy underdog.
It leads into an evening where one of just two remaining Australians — 28-year-old world No.68 Aleks Vukic — looks to stay alive in the singles, before 8-seed compatriot Alex de Minaur takes the court on Saturday.
‘DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO THAT’: AWKWARD INTERVIEW CAPS WILD NIGHT
It was an incredibly late end to Night 5, with burgeoning American Learner Tien overcoming the durable Daniil Medvedev in five sets; a match that nearly dragged on to 3am after close to five hours of back-and-forth.
And clearly, in the aftermath, the players weren’t the only ones tired for words, with Aussie tennis great John Fitzgerald conducting an awkward post-match interview with the up-and-coming Tien.
“Nineteen-year-olds are not meant to be that good,” Fitzgerald began, with Tien managing just: “I don’t know what to say to that”.
Fitzgerald added: “I used to live in Newport Beach (in California), so I know where you live, by the way.” Tien smiled awkwardly, not offering a response.
Later in the exchange, asked for his thought process in the fourth set as Medvedev staged a trademark comeback, Tien said: “Losing the third was tough after playing for that long … it was a little disappointing to see a fourth (set) after fighting from a break down in that third, but, honestly, in the fourth set, I just had to pee so bad.”
Fitzgerald replied: “That makes two of us, Learner.”
‘EVERY STORY NEEDS THEATRE’: AUSSIE STAR BACKS COLLINS’ ‘VILLAIN’ ANTICS
Former professional tennis star and two-time Aussie Olympian Casey Dellacqua has gone to bat for ‘villain’ Danielle Collins, following the American’s jaw-dropping post-match antics on Thursday night after defeating Aussie rising star Destanee Aiava.
Collins, who on-court told the crowd to ‘shut up’ and made multiple gestures, said in her post-match press conference her ‘haters’ would effectively be paying for her next big-money vacation.
“One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. It’s kind of a cool concept,” Collins said late Thursday.
And while most of those who observed the 31-year-old’s cheeky taunts weren’t shy in their opposition, an Australian great of the game has surprisingly gone against the grain.
“It doesn’t matter what show you watch, every story needs a bit of theatre,” Dellacqua told Nine.
“I love that tennis has that (element); we have villains in our game — the nice guys and love stories and everything. I like it.”
Collins, the women’s 10-seed, prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-2 over Aiava, dominating the third set despite raucous partisan support of the local product on Show Court Arena.
Follow Day 6 of the Australian Open live below!
FULL DAY 6 SINGLES FIXTURE:
Ladies Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 11:00 am — [27] A. Pavlyuchenkova vs. L. Siegemund
Ladies Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 11:30 am — [1] A. Sabalenka vs. C. Tauson
Ladies Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 11:30 am — [12] D. Shnaider vs. [18] D. Vekic
Ladies Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 12:30 pm — [11] P. Badosa vs. [17] M. Kostyuk
Mens Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 1:00 pm — R. Carballes Baena vs. [12] T. Paul
Ladies Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 1:30 pm — [23] M. Frech vs. [14] M. Andreeva
Mens Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 1:30 pm — J. Fearnley vs. [2] A. Zverev
Mens Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 2:00 pm — N. Borges vs. [3] C. Alcaraz
Mens Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 2:00 pm — J. Mensik vs. A. Davidovich Fokina
Mens Singles Third Round 17/1, starts at 4:00 pm — [24] J. Lehecka vs. B. Bonzi
Discussion about this post