The most predictable man in Aussie tennis, Alex de Minaur, is hoping his remarkable Melbourne Park trend can continue on Thursday afternoon.
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Meanwhile, after her lopsided second-round triumph on Thursday, the women’s two-seed made eyebrow-raising comments about the quality of Melbourne coffee.
Scroll for Foxsports.com.au’s moment-by-moment Thursday coverage of the Australian Open from Melbourne Park.
‘UH, OH’: WORLD NO.2’S COP-THAT TO MELBOURNE COFFEE
No matter which city we’re from, us Australians love our coffee — but debate will always rage about where you can get the best brew.
Well, women’s No.2 Iga Swiatek, a convincing victor on Thursday to progress to the third round, has weighed in — and her response is unlikely to please Melburnians.
Post-match, Nine’s Jelena Dokic asked Swiatek: “What is Iga Swiatek’s coffee order, and how does the coffee in Melbourne compare to the rest of the world? Be careful what you say here.”
Swiatek responded: “Well, I’ve gotta say, in Sydney, I found better coffee shops.”
It prompted a displeased crowd reaction and an ‘uh, oh’ from Dokic.
“But, no, no, no, guys, the thing is that also it’s not easy for me to fall asleep, so during a grand slam I’m kind of, you know, my coffee level needs to be a bit lower, so I’m only drinking it before the match,” Swiatek continued, before humorously backing over her previous words.
“I didn’t do the right research so I’m sorry for my answer. But, I mean, overall, I think in Australia it’s hard to get wrong coffee. Every coffee shop keeps a really great quality, and my order will always be flat white (with) oat milk.”
Will the fans hold Swiatek’s words against her when she comes up against 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the third round? We’ll see.
Demon’s incredible act of sportsmanship | 01:04
THE STREAK THAT DEMON IS LOOKING TO KEEP
Since winning his first ever Australian Open match, over world No.87 Gerald Melzer back in 2017 when he was a lowly world No.301, de Minaur’s results have been exactly in line with his ranking.
He has never lost to a man ranked lower than him, going 14-0, while he is 1-8 against players ranked higher than him – the only win coming over Melzer.
Notably de Minaur has never beaten a seeded player at the Australian Open – and all eight of his losses came against a seed.
Based on that history, the world No.8 should take care of business against world No.136 Tristan Boyer, an American qualifier. Their match will surprisingly take place in the day session, not before 1:30pm, likely at de Minaur’s request.
De Minaur’s 0-8 record against seeds could be on the line in the third round, as he could face No.31 seed Francisco Cerundolo, or if he’s upset would draw fellow Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta.
The only other seed de Minaur can face before the quarter-finals – a stage he has never reached at the Australian Open – is No.19 Karen Khachanov.
De Minaur is looking to join Aleks Vukic in the third round after he upset Seb Korda on Wednesday night.
There are three other Aussies in action, with Tristan Schoolkate drawing the unenviable task of beating Jannik Sinner in the first match of the Rod Laver Arena night session.
Fellow wildcard James McCabe battles young gun Alex Michelsen, after the American knocked out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round, while after her brilliant comeback from a set and 5-2 down in the opening round qualifier Destanee Aiava draws No.10 seed Danielle Collins.
WILDCARD’S PLAN FOR WORLD NO.1
— Ed Bourke, NCA Newswire
Schoolkate is determined to play with freedom against Sinner when they meet tonight.
Facing a mountainous task after a brilliant four-set win over Japan’s Taro Daniel in his main draw debut at Melbourne Park, the West Australian said he was trying not to let it occupy his mind until the final hours before the match.
Already an accomplished doubles player, Schoolkate enjoyed a breakout singles campaign in 2024 as he turned a reciprocal wildcard for the US Open into a second-round appearance – again by beating Daniel in his opening match.
It was enough for Tennis Australia to grant the 23-year-old entry into the main draw at his home slam for the first time, and has set up the biggest match of his life.
”I’m very excited. Initially, it didn’t really kick in at all (that Sinner was next),” Schoolkate told this masthead on Wednesday.
“I’d just finished playing my match, I was focusing on just recovering and getting ready for the doubles.
“(Wednesday) I was just focused on playing doubles and enjoying that – I can leave the thoughts about the match until tomorrow.”
Schoolkate joined forces with his regular doubles partner Adam Walton after the latter lost his first-round singles game, and the pair claimed a 6-2, 7-6 victory to push deeper into the tournament.
He was almost ready to turn his full attention to Sinner, as his phone blew up with messages from key Australian tennis figures including Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out after the success of the first round. Lleyton (Hewitt) did send his regards and said ‘congratulations and good luck’. It’s a big match, for sure,” Schoolkate said.
“Playing the No. 1 in the world, you don’t get that opportunity every day, and I look forward to it.
“Everyone’s trying to knock (Sinner) off – he’s the best player in the world at the moment, especially on hard courts.
“I’ll go out there and have a crack. I’ve got nothing to lose, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
ROWDY FANS FORCE MATCH TO BE MOVED
A rowdy crowd prompted Australian Open organisers to make the rare decision to move a match after it had started.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Felix Auger-Aliassime had played seven games on Court 7 but were struggling with the noise coming from from neighbouring Court 6, where vocal French supporters were cheering on Arthur Cazaux against Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.
After a lengthy discussion between the chair umpire and player, it was decided the match would be moved to another court at Melbourne Park.
After taking the first set against Fearnley, the Englishman went on a tear, winning the next three sets to emerge a convincing victor.
It ended up being an epic match finishing past 1am local time as Fokina came from two sets down to beat the 29th seed 6-7(9-7) 6-7(7-5), 6-4 6-1 6-3.
Follow Day 5 of the Australian Open live below!
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 5 ORDER OF PLAY
Show courts and Aussies – all times AEDT
Rod Laver Arena
Day session from 11:30am
Rebecca Sramkova (SVK) vs No.2 Iga Swiatek (POL)
Not before 1:30pm
[Q] Tristan Boyer (USA) vs No.8 Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Night session from 7pm
No.1 Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs [WC] Tristan Schoolkate (AUS)
Renata Zarazua (MEX) vs No.4 Jasmine Paolini (ITA)
Margaret Court Arena
Day session from 11:30am
No.8 Emma Navarro (USA) vs Xiyu Wang (CHN)
Not before 1pm
No.4 Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [Q] Cristian Garin (CHI)
Night session from 7pm
No.19 Madison Keys (USA) vs [Q] Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU)
[Q] Learner Tien (USA) vs No.5 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
John Cain Arena
Day session from 11am
No.18 Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
No.6 Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs [WC] Iva Jovic (USA)
Twilight session from 5pm
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) vs No.13 Holger Rune (DEN)
James Duckworth and Aleks Vukic (AUS) vs Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Kia Arena
Fourth match
[Q] Destanee Aiava (AUS) vs No.10 Danielle Collins (USA)
Court 3
Not before 3pm
Alex Michelsen (USA) vs [WC] James McCabe (AUS)
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