Key events
Meanwhile, we’re off to a tie break in the first set of Cazaux and Hurkacz on John Cain Arena and now there’s going to be one on Rod Laver as Medvedev holds to make it 6-6 against Borges.
Borges holds to 30 to make it 6-5 against Medvedev in the second set on Rod Laver.
Zverev and Norrie are making their way onto Margaret Court Arena, the action set to begin shortly.
Zverev has returned to the top of the tennis world since recovering from tearing ligaments in his right ankle back in June of 2022 but his presence in Melbourne has been largely overshadowed by news he will face a public trial in Germany over allegations he physically abused his ex-girlfriend in 2020, allegations he denies.
Tumaini Carayol has more.
Norrie caught a few off-guard in deviating from his usual baseline game against Ruud, instead looking to aggressively get to the net often as he took the Norwegian down in four sets.
Count Zverev, however, as someone who wasn’t surprised by the change in approach, having trained with his fourth-round during their preseason in Monte Carlo.
“I actually thought he played exactly what he was working on in the off-season,” said Zverev.
“We obviously spent the off-season together in Monaco, so I’ve seen him every single day. This is exactly what he was working on.”
“When you think of Cameron Norrie, you normally think of somebody who grinds a lot, a big fighter. But in the off-season, he really worked on his game and he really worked on the aggressive style of play. He really worked on coming forward.
“It was very noticeable in December, and you can see it on the court now. The work is paying off for him.”
Alex de Minaur has said he is devastated after losing to Andrey Rublev last night in a tense five-set match.
Hopes of local glory at the Australian Open were blown away on a windy Sunday evening in Melbourne after a late barrage from the No 5 seed, Rublev, jettisoned De Minaur in the last 16.
“Night and day, I’m a different player,” De Minaur said after the match.
Maybe a couple years ago or even last year, I would be sitting here, maybe even happy with the result, saying, I probably shouldn’t have won, he’s higher ranked than I am, I took him to five sets, pretty decent effort.
But it’s completely changed because now I’m sitting here and I’m absolutely devastated because I saw it as a great opportunity and a match I strongly believed I could have won. But it just slipped away.
Here’s Jack Snape’s full report from Rod Laver Arena:
Linda Nosková through after Elina Svitolina (19) retires hurt
It was a sad finish to Elina Svitlona’s Australian Open campaign with a painful back injury forcing her to retire from her fourth-round match against Ukraine’s Linda Nosková.
“Obviously today was not the way I had planned to win,” Nosková said.
“I feel sorry for Elina, I hope she gets very well soon.”
Dayana Yastremska beats Victoria Azarenka (18) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
Belarusian veteran and former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka was knocked out earlier this afternoon by 23-year-old Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in straight sets.
“It feels like my heart is going to jump out of my body,” Yastremska said after her victory.
Preamble
Howdy one and all, welcome to the Australian Open 2024, day nine – afternoon session.
In singles action already under way in Melbourne, Daniil Medvedev is up a set over Nuno Borges on Rod Laver Arena, while Arthur Cazaux and ninth-seed Hubert Hurkacz are locked in a tight battle in the first set of their meeting on John Cain.
But the main focus at the commencement of this afternoon’s blog will be on Margaret Court Arena, where Germany’s Alexander Zverev will be taking on British No 1 Cameron Norrie with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.
Norrie downed Casper Ruud in the third round on Saturday to book a place among the last 16 for the first time in his career, but he’s working against an even greater weight of history in this one; not only has the 19th seed fallen to defeat the last four times he’s faced off with Zverev, but he’s also done so without taking a set off him.
Zverev, for his part, dispatched American teenager Alex Michelson in straight sets on Saturday to advance to the fourth round, a mercifully straightforward affair after being forced to come from a set down against countryman Dominik Koepfer in the first round and needing nearly five hours to get past Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein in the second.
