Young gun’s curious crowd gesture splits fans; defending champ’s bizarre snub — Aus Open LIVE

Five more Aussies are hoping to join Alex de Minaur in the third round of the Australian Open when they return to action on Thursday.

Follow all the news from Day 5 of the Australian Open!

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Follow live updates from Day 5 at Melbourne Park below!

‘THANK YOU ALL’? OR SOMETHING ELSE?

Here’s one for the lipreaders.

Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old Russian sensation, underlined her talent with an impressive 6-0, 6-4 victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari on Wednesday night.

Seconds after sealing her straight-sets victory on Margaret Court Arena, Andreeva turned to the corwd and waved her racquet.

And this is where it gets interesting, with Andreeva’s response dividing online fans.

Andreeva, the No.8 seed, said something as she acknowledged the crowd. Some social media users believe she simply said “thank you all” … while others believe it might’ve been a touch more aggressive.

You be the judge.

While her opponent Sakkari is not Australian, there was a lot of support for the Greek on Wednesday night — a common occurrence at the Australian Open, which other Greeks players have previously described as their home tournament.

Asked post-match if she was pleased with how she handled the fans and atmosphere, Andreeva told reporters: “Yeah, I do think that it was not the worst experience with the fans today. Obviously they were loud, they were supporting a lot for Maria.

“When she won those three games in a row, I think she won 11 or 12 points in a row, they really went for it. They really started to be very loud on the court.

“There I just kind of thought that it’s okay if I lost my focus ‘cause I’m also human and I can drop a little bit. Then she also started playing better. I tried really not to focus on the crowd. I really tried to focus on what to do next to come back and not give her the bigger lead in the second set.

“I really tried to keep all my focus into the match, not thinking about how loud they are cheering on her or how bad it could be if I lose more points or more games.

“I’m happy with how I really put my focus into the match and not outside. Didn’t get frustrated on that.”

It comes seventh months after Andreeva came under fire for her response to a hostile Parisian crowd during her shock French Open quarter-final loss to home favourite Lois Boisson. She was lucky to avoid a code violation for smashing a ball in frustration into the stands, while she was seen allegedly asking the crowd to “shut up” at one stage. Despite everything, Andreeva didn’t blame the crowd for her loss when speaking in the post-match press conference.

Andreeva is scheduled to play Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania in the third round of the Australian Open.

DAY 5 PREVIEW

Five more Aussies are hoping to join Alex de Minaur in the third round of the Australian Open when they return to action on Thursday.

Four face mammoth tasks against seeded opponents, including veteran James Duckworth who shares centre court with back-to-back Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in the night session.

Qualifier Maddison Inglis, who survived an epic three-hour clash with great mate Kim Birrell in the opening round, has the best opportunity against fellow non-seed Laura Siegemund.

Also in the day session are qualifier Dane Sweeny, who will be dramatically outsized by big-serving American eighth seed Ben Shelton, and Rinky Hijikata who battles Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot – who is seeded 30th thanks to a fairytale run to the Shanghai Masters title late last year, while ranked outside the top 200.

Hijikata opens Kia Arena and is followed by fellow wildcard Taylah Preston against Czech 13th seed Linda Noskova.

Ten-time champion Novak Djokovic headlines the day session on Rod Laver Arena and will almost certainly outclass Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli.

Defending women’s champion Madison Keys and world No.2 Iga Swiatek have both surprisingly been sent out to the third-biggest court, John Cain Arena.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 5 ORDER OF PLAY

Men’s and Women’s Singles second round