Arthur Cazaux and Nuno Borges will look to continue their fairytale runs in Melbourne as the Australian Open enters its second week.
Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds respectively, are also in action as they prepare to make major statements in their bid to win the first grand slam of the year. Follow along for live updates from Day Nine at the Australian Open!
Watch Australia v West Indies on Kayo Sports. Every Test, ODI and T20I Live with no ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
Ruthless Rublev ruins Aussie hopes | 00:48
DAY 8 TALKING PTS: Tensions build behind awkward issue AO can’t ignore; ‘absolute freak’s scary reality
Heartbreaking sight as Demon ‘absolutely devastated’ — because he ‘could’ve won’
‘Relentless’ rival ends Demon’s AO dream as Aussie falls apart late in five-set, 4hr thriller
‘HORRENDOUS TO SEE’: NO. 19 SEED IN TEARS AS INJURY TAKES ITS TOLL
Elina Svitolina was reduced to tears after she was forced to retire with an injury just three games into the first set of her fourth round clash against Linda Noskova.
Svitolina, the No. 19 seed, took a medical timeout after the second game due to a serious back injury.
Unfortunately for the Ukrainian, she lasted just one more game before the pain became unbearable and was forced to retire from the contest.
It was not the way Noskova had hoped to win and send her well wishes in the direction of Svitolina.
“I feel sorry for Elina, I hope she gets soon very well,” Noskova said in her post-match interview.
“We’ll just see what happens next round.”
Noskova entered the contest on the back of the biggest win of her career having stunned No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek.
Meanwhile on Rod Laver Arena Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska created more women’s chaos with an upset of two-time champion and 18th seed Victoria Azarenka.
Recovering from a break down in the second set, Yastremska’s 7-6(6) 6-4 win guarantees there’ll be a first-time grand slam finalist at Melbourne Park this year.
She and Noskova will face off for one spot in the semi-finals, where they’ll play one of 26th seed Jasmine Paolini, Anna Kalinskaya, 12th seed Qinwen Zheng or Oceane Dodin.
‘THAT WAS OUT’: COMMENTATOR LEFT STUNNED OVER NON-CALL
Chinese women’s doubles duo Jiang Xinyu and Hanyu Guo were left stunned as a ball that looked well over the baseline was not called.
In their women’s doubles third round clash against Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe on Sunday night, the contest was level at one game each in the third set at 30-30, with Guo on serve.
Guo and Xinyu then would have thought they’d be one point away from holding serve when a ball appeared to land well over the baseline.
Thinking the ball was out, Guo didn’t attempt to play much of a shot as the ball bounced off her racquet.
However, the electronic line judge didn’t call the ball out, meaning Dabrowski and Routliffe would go up 30-40 and have the chance to break serve.
“Oh, wow,” one commentator on Eurosport said.
The co-commentator replied: “That was out.”
Chair umpire Jaume Campistol got on the phone to figure out what was going on as he too appeared to believe the ball had gone out.
However, Campistol soon announced on the microphone that Guo had, in fact, hit the ball before it bounced.
Despite Campistol’s decision, the commentator was not convinced.
“Wow, I’d like to see a replay of that again,” the commentator said.
“Did she definitely hit it before it bounced?
“Let’s have a look back. I think that bounced.”
Although Routliffe and Dabrowski didn’t win the ensuing point, they managed to break in the third game and went on to win the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
MYSTERY SOLVED? DJOKOVIC’S NEW PRODUCT LIFTS LID ON INFAMOUS ‘SECRET SAUCE’
A mystery that has left tennis fans scratching their heads for years has seemingly been solved as Novak Djokovic launched a new product: electrolyte cubes.
The Serbian superstar’s remarkable fitness and ability to play high-level tennis deep in matches has been one of his hallmark qualities, but many had wondered how it was even possible.
Surely a player couldn’t be that much fitter than everyone else on the tour, right?
Tennis fans got somewhat of a clue during the 2022 French Open when Djokovic’s physio was caught on camera mixing a drink and handing it to a ballgirl to give to the world No. 1.
Renowned tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg described the scenes as “bizarre” and felt “rivals (and the public and the officials governing the sport) should get to know” what Djokovic was cosuming.
But the launch of Djokovic’s latest product has pulled back the curtain on what was in the drink.
Prior to the Australian Open, Djokovic released SILA: By Novak Djokovic, which are electrolyte cubes that do not contain any sugar or caffeine.
According to the man himself, the product had been in development for ten years before its release.
Speaking on commentary during Djokovic’s fourth round demolition of Adrian Mannarino for Nine, Jim Courier said the defending Australian Open champ was “finally letting the public in on some of his secret sauce.”
UNDERDOG DUO OUT TO CONTINUE MIRACLE AUS OPEN RUN
Arthur Cazaux, the French reciprocal wildcard, had never won a match at a grand slam prior to this year’s Australian Open.
However, the world No.122 now faces the daunting prospect of Polish star Hubert Hurkacz with a spot in the quarter finals on the line.
Cazaux will go into the match full of confidence having already dispatched No.27 Laslo Djere (first round) and world No.8 Holger Rune (second round).
The 21-year-old from Montpellier will play No.9 seed Hurkacz on John Cain Arena in the afternoon.
Nuno Borges has already made history by becoming the first Portuguese player to reach the fourth round of the singles draw at the Australian Open by ousting No. 13 seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (6).
It is the deepest he has gone at any grand slam, having previously only made it as far as the second round at the French Open last year and at the US Open in 2022.
Borges will have to produce his best tennis if he is to progress as he takes on No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev.
Also featuring on Day Nine is two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka as she faces Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska.
With the women’s draw blown wide open after the shock exit of No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek, Azarenka will look to take full advantage as she seeks her first grand slam title since 2013.
Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz is in action too, taking on Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in Rod Laver Arena to kick off the night session.
‘WORST TECHNIQUE I’VE EVER SEEN’: KYRGIOS’ HILARIOUS REVEAL ON MEDVEDEV’S JUNIOR DAYS
While Medvedev may be in the running to return to the Australian Open final after his crushing loss to Rafael Nadal in 2022, the fact he is even playing at this level in the first place is a surprise to Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios, who is working in commentary for Eurosport during the Australian Open, revealed he played Medvedev in juniors and that the Russian superstar was a very different player to the one that lifted the US Open title in 2021.
In fact, Kyrgios said that Medvedev had the “worst technique” he had “ever seen” in those early stages of his career.
“It’s crazy to see all these guys I played juniors with doing so well now, it’s awesome,” Kyrgios said.
“One guy I thought was going to be horrific, actually, was Medvedev. I played him in juniors at Roehampton and I beat him like maybe 6-3 6-3.
“I was the dominant junior and I was like ‘this guy is terrible, the worst technique I’ve ever seen’. I honestly said this guy should just give it up, there’s no way he’s going to make it work with those hits.
“And now a No. 1 in the world and a Grand Slam champion, so funny though. And he was a nutter as well, I was like ‘this guy’s crazy’.”
The ‘Scary Movie’ inside Rublev’s mind | 01:23
‘YOU’RE GOING TO DIE TODAY’: RUBLEV’S PEP TALK BEHIND EPIC WIN
With his frustrations starting to boil over, Andrey Rublev threatened to unravel on Sunday night as Alex de Minaur took back-to-back tiebreakers to go up 2-1 in their fourth round match.
But the World No.5 rallied to take the second set and then wrap up the five-set epic with a bagel, booking a quarter-final date with the in-form Jannik Sinner.
During his post-match interview with Jim Courier on Nine, Rublev gave an insight into how he won the mental battle against the relentless Australian.
“I started to tell to myself ‘you’re going to die today but you will do everything’ and somehow I started to play better and better,” Rublev said.
“I found more energy and I was able to win
“He’s one of the fastest players, the way he moves with the legs, and takes the speed, it’s crazy. You could see it was super tough to play.
“I start to feel a bit of pain there, but it’s normal after four hours with intensity like this.
“[I told myself] don’t cry, don’t start to feel sorry for yourself.”
While de Minaur ended up losing the final set 6-0 fellow Australian Kyrgios said on Eurosport that it didn’t reflect just how much of a fight he put up against an opponent who was just on another level in the end.
“What a match, I mean four hours and 20 minutes of high-intensity tennis, the level was insane,” Kyrgios said.
“I knew one of them was going to struggle physically in the fifth and it wasn’t Alex, but the start Rublev had in that fifth set was insane.
“The ball striking was incredible, the level just raised. Look it was a hell of an effort from both these guys, bitter sweet from Alex – 6-0 in the fifth doesn’t really reflect how much of a fighter he is because he didn’t just give up, he was fighting to the very end.
“But that was an insane match, not going to lie.”
DAY 9 ORDER OF PLAY (all times AEDT)
ROD LAVER ARENA
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) def No.18 Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 7-6(6) 6-4
Not before 1:30pm: Nuno Borges (POR) vs No.3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
From 7pm: Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) vs No.2 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
Followed by: No.12 Qinwen Zheng (CHN) vs Oceane Dodin (FRA)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Linda Noskova (CZE)def No.19 Elina Svitolina (UKR) 3-0 ret
Not before 4pm: No.6 Alexander Zverev (GER) vs No.19 Cameron Norrie (GBR)
JOHN CAIN ARENA
Not before 3pm: Arthur Cazaux (FRA) vs No.9 Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
Followed by: No.26 Jasmine Paolini (ITA) vs Anna Kalinskaya (RUS)
Follow all the action from Day Nine of the Australian Open in our LIVE BLOG below!
Discussion about this post