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De Minaur storms into 3rd round | 01:39
Australia’s Alex de Minaur has charged into the third round of the Australian Open for fifth straight year with a thumping win against American qualifier Tristan Boyer.
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The eighth seed showed off several of his new tricks as well as some of his old classics on his way to a 6-2 6-4 6-3 triumph on Rod Laver Arena.
De Minaur missed his home slam in 2020 due to injury, so it is actually the sixth consecutive time he has made the third round, and he did it with ruthless efficiency.
It was exactly the sort of performance one would expect from a top ten player in the world against a lesser opponent at a grand slam.
Boyer fought admirably, especially considering the circumstances where his family remain at home in California trying to protect their house from the raging fires, but de Minaur never seemed troubled.
He won eight straight games across the first and second sets after losing his opening service game of the match.
He hit thunderous aces, six of them in fact, as the speed gun registered bullets of up to 217km/h, speeds never normally seen from de Minaur.
There were plenty of other serves that proved too much for the American to handle despite getting a racquet to them.
His ground strokes were relentlessly thumped deep into the court until Boyer made an error or opened up the court.
His old tricks were on display too as when needed he zoomed around the court to chase down a drop shot that just about everyone bar him thought was unreachable.
But what was most impressive was how many services games felt like that if you blinked, you had missed it.
It was like de Minaur had somewhere else to be.
He may have been eager to have as much time as possible before his fiancé Katie Boutler’s match on for Court 3 on Thursday evening, wrapping up the match in an hour and 59 minutes.
But such was his efficiency that he threatened to break his record for his fastest ever win at the Australian Open – which came in one hour and 39 minutes against Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the second round in 2022 – for much of the afternoon.
If not for Boyer taking a lengthy break in the dressing rooms before the third set, and then having to change his shoes because he snapped his laces in the first game of that set, de Minaur might have got close to the mark.
It should not be surprising that someone who made the ATP Tour Finals last season as one of the best eight players in the world off the back of making three straight grand slam quarter finals would dominate the world No. 136.
But the Rod Laver Arena crowd seemed pleasantly surprised for much of the afternoon.
A large portion of the tennis that he vaulted de Minaur to as high as sixth in the world has come overseas, and at home he is often still regarded as the plucky fighter who leaves everything out on the court.
Now, he is still that player, but he also has real weapons.
His serve is ever improving and gaining speed, so too is his forehand, and showing them off is exactly what de Minaur would have hoped for at the start of the day.
His game was in good order, and he spent minimal time on the court after taking 2 hours and 22 minutes to see off Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the first round.
Awaiting him in the Round of 32 is Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
The 31st seed will be fresh too. He advanced after his countryman Facundo Diaz Acosta retired after only 40 minutes with Cerundolo leading 6-2 1-0.
De Minaur has never lost to a lower ranked player at his home slam however, and he will take a lot of confidence from how comfortably he did things on Thursday afternoon.
The outcome was not as positive for fellow Australian James McCabe.
The 21-year-old wildcard battled bravely but he was outclassed, going down in straight sets 7-5 6-3 7-6 to Alex Michelsen.
The American sensationally knocked out former Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round, and showed again that he is player on the rise as the 20-year-old advanced to the third round in Melbourne for a second successive year.
Earlier in the day, world No. 2 Iga Swiatek produced a commanding 6-0 6-2 win against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova on Rod Laver Arena to set up an intriguing third round clash with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
The Brit had a straight sets victory of her own, 6-3 7-5, against American Amanda Anisimova to advance to the third round for the first time at Melbourne Park.
Women’s seed Elena Rybakina and Emma Navarro also chalked up wins, while American men Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton triumphed as 18th Hubert Hurckacz was defeated in straight sets by Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
See 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.
‘HAVE A BIT MORE CLASS’: FORMER STAR CALLS OUT CROWD TREATMENT OF AUSSIE
Former professional Australian tennis player and ATP title winner John Millman has spoken out against the Court 3 crowd’s treatment of 32-year-old Aussie James Duckworth in his three-set loss to Roberto Carballés Baena on Wednesday night.
Lebanese fans were excitedly awaiting the appearance of Hady Habib, who was scheduled to play after Duckworth, while the local talent was still battling his Spanish opponent.
So anticipatory were the scenes that the Lebanese supporters were urging Baena to victory to speed up the arrival of Habib, who also saw his tournament end on Thursday night in a three-set loss to Ugo Humbert.
“I felt really bad for ‘Ducks’, he’s a good mate of mine,” Millman told the ABC Tennis Podcast.
“You’re at your home slam and they’re cheering against you because they want to see the next match come on.
“I think that’s where you’ve got to have a bit more class. That’s what you have to deal with at the Australian Open.
“You’re going to have some rowdy supporters. We live in a very multicultural country so you’re going to have a lot of people who have ties to a lot of different countries and support their charge.”
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)
