The fourth round of the Australian Open is here, and while some huge names including Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur remain on the men’s side, the stars have fallen like flies in the women’s draw.
US Open champion Coco Gauff was in no mood to entertain an upset, winning in rapid time to book a spot in the quarterfinals, with Novak Djokovic now in action on Rod Laver Arena.
On Court 3, a Hewitt is in action, but not the former world No.1 Lleyton. His son, 15-year-old Cruz, is in action at the Australian Open juniors, taking on sixth seed Alexander Razeghi.
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DJOKER’S BIZARRE FRENCH TAKEDOWN
Novak Djokovic has made an exceedingly rare appearance in the day session following the end of his 15-match streak of playing in primetime on Rod Laver Arena.
His opponent Adrian Mannarino’s superstitions have since drawn focus, particularly his desire to not know who he’s playing until he’s walking out for his match.
“The interesting thing about Adrian Mannarino, he doesn’t realise who he plays until he walks out on the court – it’s a known fact,” John Millman explained.
“If you’re around Adrian, don’t tell him who his next opponent is. He doesn’t look really. It’s crazy. It’s crazy.”
While there was hope scattered showers wouldn’t force the roof to be closed on Rod Laver Arena, the call was made to shut it before the match.
The indoor conditions made control over the ball even easier for the two seasoned professionals, with some lengthy rallies ensuing from virtually the start of the match.
Djokovic broke Mannarino’s serve after a game lasting more than eight minutes, clenching his fist and raising it to the crowd as he worked hard around the court in some extended rallies.
“It’s like PlayStation tennis and Novak Djokovic is in charge of the joystick,” Robbie Koenig said on Stan.
The humidity under the roof looked to bother Djokovic slightly early in the match, but he nonetheless looked in control of proceedings.
Djokovic took the first set 6-0 and broke early in the second, but looked to be in significant discomfort after lengthy rallies, at one point looking like he would be sick.
“We’re about 10-to-15 metres away from Djokovic in our commentary position and Djokovic fans would be worried right now, there’s real distress,” commentator Brenton Speed said on Nine.
Jim Courier added: “Novak taking some extra time to regroup. Almost looked like he got sick at the end of that point.”
Courier said the scoreline should not decieve people into thinking Djokovic was at full strength.
“Here is the thing that everyone at home should be listening for and paying attention to: 53 minutes into this match, Djokovic is one of the most silent assassins we have seen in tennis. He doesn’t grunt until late in the match or if the point gets really long. He is grunting on every point.”
“He is without question physically wounded at the moment. He is sick. He told us he was sick five days before the tournament. Would have thought by now he would have healed up.
“Something is still not right inside his body because his energy levels are not what we are used to seeing.”
Adding to the bizarre context of Djokovic’s struggles was the scoreboard, with the Serbian taking the second set 6-0.
It marked the first time he’d won the first two sets 6-0 6-0 in a grand slam match since his 2011 US Open win over Carlos Berlocq.
HEWITT 2.0 TAKES TO SLAM STAGE
by Courtney Walsh
Almost three decades after Lleyon Hewitt debuted as a 15-year-old at the Australian Open, the former world No.1 was courtside to watch his son Cruz step out in the juniors on Sunday.
Sporting a shock of blond hair and wearing his cap backwards like his famous dad once did, the 15-year-old son of a gun is competing as a wildcard in the boy’s singles this year.
The Hewitt surname carries great weight in Australian tennis and a capacity crowd crammed into Court 3 to watch Hewitt in his clash with the 6th seeded Alexander Razeghi.
Hewitt walked onto the court carrying two racquet bags. He checked his phone, turned it off and grabbed his racquet as two photographers snapped his profile from one metre away.
As the warm-up started, Jordan Thompson exchanged handshakes with former Davis Cup representative Peter Luckaz and Jaymon Crabb, a long-time family friend and coach.
Lleyton Hewitt was all business as he sat nearby. A few seats down sat Cruz’s mum Bec Hewitt, a former star of the long-running soap opera Home And Away.
Melbourne Park felt a long way from the beautiful beaches and bright sunshine of Summer Bay, with the city shrouded by clouds and the feel of misty rain clearly evident on the skin.
Cruz Hewitt’s grandparents Glynn, a star in the SANFL who also played a handful of games with Richmond, and Cherilyn also watched on from nearby seats.
The latter was wearing a black cap from the former world No.1s ‘C’mon’ range of clothing.
And there was plenty for the family to ‘c’mon’ about in the opening game as the baseliner, wearing his hat backwards as his dad once did, started in extremely promising fashion.
Pitted against Razeghi, an American left-hander who already boasts an ATP Tour ranking of 1237, the young Hewitt fired forehands and secured a service break immediately.
But the more mature American soon gained the upper hand and was leading 3-1 when rain delayed play around the grounds at Melbourne Park.
A day earlier Jagger Leach, the son of former Australian Open champion and world No.1 Lindsay Davenport, showed significant promise when progressing to the second round.
GAUFF DEFIES UPSETS
Just seven of the 32 seeds in the women’s singles advanced to the last 16, including only four of the top 17, capped off by the shocking loss of world No.1 Iga Swiatek to 19-year-old Linda Noskova last night.
It leaves the top half of the draw particularly bare with a first-time slam finalist looking exceedingly likely.
Of the eight women remaining there, only Victoria Azarenka – a two time Melbourne Park champion – has experience winning a slam.
No.19 seed Elina Svitolina, a three-time Slam semi-finalist, is the next-most credentialed but is in line to face Azarenka in the quarter-finals, bracketed with fellow Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska and giant-killer Noskova.
One of those four will face a semi-finalist nobody saw coming, either No.12 seed Zheng Qinwen, a surprise US Open quarter-finalist who was ranked outside the top 125 two years ago, or one of No.26 seed Jasmine Paolini, Anna Kalinskaya or Oceane Dodin, none of whom had won more than one match at a slam before last week.
The bottom half of the draw, in action today, features just three seeds though that includes the last two hard-court slam winners – US Open champion Coco Gauff and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.
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Gauff once again stormed through her match, winning 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour.
The 19-year-old is yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament and has now won 11 consecutive matches at major level, having won last year’s US Open.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur plays on centre court in the night session, from 7pm AEDT, against world No.5 Andrey Rublev.
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DAY 8 ORDER OF PLAY – SINGLES 4TH ROUND
All times AEDT
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session, from 12pm: No.4 Coco Gauff (USA) def Magdalena Frech (POL) 6-1 6-2
Not before 1:30pm: No.1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs No.20 Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
Night session, from 7pm: No.10 Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs No.5 Andrey Rublev (RUS)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Not before 1pm: No.2 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) def Amanda Anisimova (USA) 6-3 6-2
Not before 4pm: No.4 Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs No.15 Karen Khachanov (RUS)
JOHN CAIN ARENA
Not before 1:30pm: No.12 Taylor Fritz (USA) vs No.7 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Mirra Andreeva (RUS) vs No.9 Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
KIA ARENA
Not before 1pm: Marta Kostyuk (UKR) vs Maria Timofeeva (RUS)