Novak Djokovic’s emotional tribute to parents, Carlos Alcaraz, schedule, order of play, blog, scores, news,

Defending Australian Open doubles champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler have been knocked out of the tournament.

The local pair stunned the tennis world with their run to the title last year, but have been bundled out by a German pair in the second round of this year’s event.

Meanwhile, one of last year’s singles semi-finalists is in strife.

On a big Saturday at Melbourne Park, world number two Carlos Alcaraz headlines the daytime action on Rod Laver Arena against an impressive wildcard in Juncheng Shang, before world number one Iga Swiatek kicks off the evening session.

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DOUBLES DREAM OVER

Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler’s title defence at the Australian Open has been dashed, with Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer winning in a deciding set.

Hijikata and Kubler entered the tournament as the 16th seeds, but were the defending champions after a whirlwind run to the title last year.

The pair dropped the first set against their German opponents, but bounded back to claim the second in front of a raucous Court 3 crowd.

One break of serve was all the Germans needed in the third, successfully serving out the match to win 6-4 4-6 6-3.

Hijikata and Kubler had earlier predicted fellow Aussies Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson to follow in their footsteps (and those of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis) and make it three Aussie duos to win the title in a row.

“I think they could be the third straight Aussie pair to win the tournament, if I’m being honest,” Hijikata said of the duo.

“I got to play with Max in Tokyo, and I’ve seen Thommo play a ton – they’re both unbelievable doubles players.

“Now that they’re both out of the singles, they can probably focus on their doubles a bit more … I would say they’re a very good shot to go deep these next couple of weeks.”

That pair is on court now.

AMERICAN IN STRIFE

Last year’s semi-finalist Tommy Paul has dropped the opening set to Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

Paul made his deepest run at a major last year before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, but the 14th seed is on the ropes against his opponent.

VETERAN’S WHACKS ‘BULLS**T’ AMID ODD QUIRK

35-year-old Frenchman Adrian Mannarino is ageing like a fine wine – reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open with a near-five-hour win over American 16th seed Ben Shelton that is undoubtedly one of the matches of the tournament.

It was his third consecutive five-setter, and was his 11th straight slam win when a match went the distance.

Next he’ll face Novak Djokovic, where even reaching five sets would be an incredible result for the veteran.

Not that Mannarino wanted to know who he is playing. In a funny quirk, the No.20 prefers to find out who he is playing around an hour before he steps onto court.

It means he doesn’t prepare differently for any opponent – even if they’re left handed.

“No, not at all,” he said in his post-match press conference. “I don’t think I need to prepare special for these kind of match. Many players like to play with lefty before playing a lefty, practicing with a righty before playing a righty. I just think that’s bulls**t.

“This is one of the reasons why I’m struggling to find partners because people, they’re really, really intense in their preparation. They want everything to be perfect. For me, doesn’t really matter.

“Yesterday I was just too tired. I’ve been playing like 15 minutes with my coach. I said: ‘No, I don’t want nothing more, I’ve been playing enough tennis the last few days.’”

But he can’t swear everyone to secrecy about his upcoming opponent, and revealed he already knows he’s facing the Serb (likely Sunday night).

“I always try to keep it as long as I can because I just don’t want to think too much. But let’s say in average it’s about an hour before.

“Today I was just at the restaurant checking on which court my friends (Nicolas) Mahut and (Edouard) Roger-Vasselin were playing (doubles). Actually watching the screen, I saw my match. I was like: ‘Wow, now I know!’.”

He added he found out his second-round opponent was Jaume Munar from his driver.

“It’s always different, the different situation. Yesterday my driver who drove me in the morning just wanted to be nice and say good luck against Mr. Munar. I don’t need to know!”

‘A LOT OF ADVERSITY’: DJOKER’S EMOTIONAL ROAD TO 100

Novak Djokovic has won 10 Australian Opens and could well be on the way to his 11th this fortnight.

Last night, the Serbian great played in his 100th match at Melbourne Park, claiming his 92nd win at the tournament as he overcame Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets.

Asked to reflect on his journey to an Australian Open century and his motivation throughout the years, the world no. 1 delivered an emotional tribute to his family.

“I’ll try to keep this answer as short as possible,” he began.

“I have been blessed to go through a very interesting life journey, so to say.

“Coming from Serbia during the 90s wasn’t easy for my family and my parents had to endure a lot of adversity, economically and in every sense, in order for me to live my dream.

“To allow me to play the sport that still is very expensive for our country, but at that time it was super expensive compared to some other team sports.

“I chose to play it and my parents did everything they possibly can to provide the conditions and the possibilities for me to be able to train.
“I wasn’t travelling for a couple of years in the junior days because of obviously (a) lack of resources, war, embargo, lot of different things.

“At the end of the day, when I reflect on all of the journey that I’ve been through and that we have all been through, as a family and people of Serbia, it has been honestly an incredible blessing to be here. I am very grateful for that.”

16-YEAR-OLD’S CHARMING REACTION TO MURRAY PRAISE

16-year-old Mirra Andreeva is taking the Australian Open by storm, the teen widely touted as the ‘next big thing’ in tennis roaring into fourth round on Friday with a remarkable comeback win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry 1-6 6-1 7-6(5).

Andreeva saved match point while down 5-2 in the third before sending it to a tie-break on the back of a bizarre biting act, some elite play, and impressive mental fortitude – especially to recover in the tie-break after failing to serve out the match at 6-5.

BITING BACK! 16yo sensation leaves her mark with bizarre act as Murray tweet clips commentators

Five-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray praised the youngster as he took aim at TV commentators during the match.

“Andreeva down 5-1 in third,” he wrote on social media. “Commentator: ‘she really needs to work on mental side of her game. She’s too hard on herself when she’s losing’. 30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.”

“Maybe the reason she turned the match around is because of her mental strength,” he said.

“Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner.”

Andreeva’s response to Murray’s praise was perfect.

“Honestly, I didn’t really think that he would watch a match, then after he would tweet, he would comment something,” she said.

“Honestly, I will try to print it out somehow. I don’t know, I will put it in a frame. I will bring it everywhere with me. I will maybe put it on the wall so I can see it every day!”

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