Australian Open Day Four: Local hopeful bows out of the Australian Open in agonising five-set thriller against the UK’s No. 1 – as the raucous crowd is slammed for an appalling act

Jack Draper bit back at the fans who had booed and jeered him during his marathon match against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

After winning a point late on in the match, he hit back at the fans inside the stadium who had been on his back throughout the match, raising his hand to his ear suggesting he couldn’t hear their chants.

Thanasi is an unbelievable player, someone who I have great respect for.

Really proud of the way I came through here today.

This is what I’ve played for since I was a young guy. It was a tough atmosphere to deal with and I had a little fun back. Really happy with the amount of support and it’s unbelievable.

Fans inside the John Cain Arena tonight have been slammed after sections of supporters inside the John Cain Arena booed and jeered Jack Draper as he walked out onto the court for his match against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The home fans were boisterous throughout the match, shouting ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie’ in support of their man Kokkinakis.

The smattering of boos didn’t seem to bother Draper – who spoke earlier this week about how he was relishing the chance to play against an Aussie in his own backyard. Among the boos, there were large cheers for Draper, who was seen holding his hand up to acknowledge the support.

Some, though, have branded the booing as ‘disappointing’ on social media.

Meanwhile, the chair umpire became increasingly frustrated with fans as the game went on, warning people to stop chanting as the players prepared to serve, while also hitting out at people for moving behind the baseline.

Speaking on the partisan atmosphere, Eurosport commentator, Mikey Perera claimed Draper wouldn’t be too fussed by the reaction from the Aussie fans.

‘Here we go then, a few boos for Jack Draper.

‘I don’t think he’ll mind that.

‘He’s the sort of character that will say: ‘Okay then, bring it on”.’

Jacob Fearnley sealed victory against Arthur Cazaux on the infamous Court 7 earlier tonight.

The court is known for being the ‘rowdy’ venue at the Australian Open and features a two-storey bar on one side.

In fact, organisers have been slammed before in the past by players for allowing some fans to get a little bit too merry and disruptive while players are still attempting to play.

For Fearnley it was a unique experience, but he admitted he had to overcome the raucous French fans who sung the whole way through his match.

Yeah, it was an interesting one. I actually didn’t really look at the court before I went on, so when I saw the bar, I was thinking it’s going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere. Usually they go together, a bar and a rowdy atmosphere. It was interesting.

But as I kind of settled into the match, I kind of blocked it out as much as I could. Obviously there was some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere, amazing atmosphere.

Fearnley said he enjoyed the loud atmosphere, having upset the odds in front of a partisan John Cain Arena to defeat Nick Kyrgios earlier in the week.

Honestly it took me a while to get used to having support for me. Like, obviously, with Nick I didn’t really have any. I had the odd, but it was difficult.

Having some support, it actually did take me a little bit of time to kind of get used to that. Once I was in the match, you kind of accept it. It’s support, and people are going to be supporting my opponent. Some people are going to be supporting me.

As soon as I accepted that, you can just go and play and play tennis. It’s quite cool, honestly. I really enjoy those atmospheres.

De Minaur roared to victory against Botic van de Zandschulp on Tuesday night, but he also produced a classy moment during the match.

In a show of sportsmanship, the Aussie star stopped the match to consult his opponent and the chair umpire over a slight problem that cropped up during the game.

Alexander Zverev believes his upcoming opponent, Jacob Fearnley deserves to be in the third round of the Australian Open.

Fearnley dazzled fans on Monday to beat Nick Kyrgios, before going on to seal a huge victory on Wednesday night against Arthur Cazaux.

Impressed by his upcoming opponent, Zverev admits he is looking forward to the matchup but is staying weary of what Fearnley can bring to the court.

I watched him play against Nick a few nights ago. I watched him play Novak at Wimbledon. That’s about it.

But I know he’s a young college player who’s gone up in the rankings extremely fast. That means he’s playing great tennis. I’m looking forward to playing him for the first time.

I have massive respect for guys who go that route. Kind of chose the hard way to go to the professional circuit.

He did that, went through all the stages. He deserves to be in the third round of a major, and I’m looking forward to it.

We thought Jack Draper’s match was going to be a late one but there are still games going on around Melbourne Park.

It’s 12:30 at night here in Melbourne and Felix Auger-Aliassime is still playing off against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Court Seven.

But there was a fair bit of drama around this match earlier tonight.

The game had initially begun on Court 8 but was later moved to Court 7 because of an excessively large crowd of French fans on Court 6.

They were supporting Arthur Cazaux, who was beaten by Jacob Fearnley, but it is understood, according to The First Service that the game had to be moved.

Carlos Alcaraz also enjoyed success at Melbourne Park today, with the Spaniard besting Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets.

But it appears the Spaniard has been helping Jack Draper conquer the world.

Mail Sport’s Matthew Lambert has the full scoop below…

This is the first time Draper will have reached the third round of the Australian Open with the 23-year-old Londoner’s being knocked out in the second round last year – his best performance at the ‘happy slam’.

Draper has won twice on the ATP Tour and reached the semi-final of the 2024 US Open last year, his best at a Grand Slam yet – with Draper reaching a career-high of No 15 on the ATP Tour.

Will he one day become Great Britain’s next big hope to emulate Andy Murray?

He certainly thinks so…

Things may have been a little tense out there, but there was nothing but respect between the players at the end of that match.

That was an agonising defeat for Kokkinakis but the Aussie star performed brilliantly and should be commended for his sportsmanship during that match, awarding Draper a point after the umpire had incorrectly called a let.

The Aussie was also clearly in some discomfort, having sustained a pectoral injury during his first-round match.

A gladiatorial performance from the 28-year-old.

Draper completes the comeback! He plays a forehand down Kokkinakis’ right tramline to seal the win 6-7 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-3.

That was a truly amazing victory for Draper. Kokkinakis looks totally deflated too but credit should go to the Aussie who was incredible throughout.

Draper, meanwhile, mentally had to battle against the partisan crowd who booed him during the match.

‘Very impressive the way that he was able to find the belief and get the win,’ Lleyton Hewitt said to Channel 9.

A gutsy win from the Brit after playing out another five-set match earlier this week.

He can serve for the match!!

Kokkinakis puts a shot into the middle of the net, gifting Draper a huge breakpoint!

This could be it. A 4:35 hour epic comes down to this.

The chair umpire is really having a hard time controlling this crowd.

Though they have been brilliant, some fans continue to heckle the players as they prepare to serve.

But there’s more boos for draper, this time from a large selection of the audience, as the Brit celebrates holding his serve to take a 4-3 lead.

He wasn’t going to get much love though by fist bumping the air towards the crowd but that was brilliant work from Draper to fend off Kokkinakis’ advances.

Alex de Minaur snuck into the Kia Arena last night to watch his beau Katie Boulter seal victory against Rebecca Marino.

But tonight, all eyes have turned to another tennis couple, Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Earlier tonight, the Greek star, who was shockingly knocked out of the first round earlier this week, dropped in to watch his girlfriend claim a straight-sets victory against Talia Gibson.

I’ve also just seen the loved-up pair walking through the media centre smiling and joking as Badosa fulfilled her media duties.

On the court, Badosa blew a kiss to her boyfriend, Tsitsipas, as he watched on from the stands before asking the crowd to give him a round of applause.

I think he always complains that I do long matches so today I was really proud of myself that he didn’t have to stay too [long] here.

But it is amazing to have him by my side, it is very inspiring. And especially a player who is so good at what he does.

He gives me so much advice and support. I think visa versa. It’s great to have him by my side. I want to have a round of support for him because he is not having the best moment but he’s coming back.

Draper and Kokkinakis have both been on the court for four hours now.

But this match could go on for a long time yet.

Neither player looks like they are ready or wants to give up just yet.

It threw me back to when Andy Murray played off in a six-hour thriller that ended at 4am at the 2023 Australian Open.

Murray went on to clinch the victory – the longest of his career.

Draper currently holds a 2-1 lead in the fifth set but Kokkinakis will be rueing his inability to close the match out in the fourth set.

He’s been having some more physio on his pec too.

We’ve got a five-set thriller on our hands here.

But how did Kokkinakis let that slip through his fingers? While he has been struggling with a small injury niggle here, he’s been moving well over the last few games.

What a comeback though from Draper! The pair have gone set-for-set, with Draper breaking Kokkinakis in the 12th game to keep the game alive!

Draper is looking in good form, despite having played five sets of tennis during his first-round clash against Mariano Navone on Monday.

That’s two 3-0 victories on the bounce for Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open so far and he is looking in very good fettle.

Today he surpassed world No 44 Pedro Martinez 1-6 4-6 1-6 to secure a third-round.

The powerful German will now come up against 23-year-old British star Jacob Fearnley in the next round!

Wow! In his first-ever Grand Slam, Jacob Fearnley has bashed his way past Arthur Cazaux with a 6-3 5-7 6-2 6-3 victory.

What a moment for the 23-year-old!

That is a huge break for the British star who has just broken his Australian Opponent at the most crucial part of the match.

What resilience from Draper who has impressively just beaten Kokkinakis to love on his own service.

Considering how brilliant Kokkinakis’ service has been so far in this match, that was seriously impressive from Draper.

The Brit has, meanwhile, hit back at the partisan audience who have been wildly cheering Kokkinakis during this clash.

He points to his ear as he walks away from the court, with the match now level at 5-5.

This week we’ve had electronic line calling malfunctions, we’ve had players throwing up on the court and we’ve even had a player smash up the net camera with his racket.

But this is by far the most bizarre thing we’ve seen yet.

The Australian Open appear to be broadcasting a Wii Sports-style stream of their matches on YouTube due to a broadcasting rights issue.

Here’s a video of a cartoon Daniil Medvedev smashing his racket against the net.

The chair umpire at the John Cain Arena is getting increasingly frustrated by the raucous crowd here.

‘Stop doing that,’ she says to one spectator who was rattling around as Kokkinakis wound up his serve.

Draper, meanwhile, appears to be fading out of this match with Kokkinakis just a game away from winning the match having gone 5-3 up.

Aleksandar Vukic and Sebastian Korda went the distance on Wednesday night but in front of his home crowd, it was the Aussie who reigned supreme.

Vukic claimed a 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-5 victory against the American, who is the brother of LPGA Tour star Nelly Korda.

But it was a monumental moment for the 28-year-old Aussie, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

It seems the line-calling system just failed for a moment inside the John Cain Arena, with the chair umpire having to call out herself instead of the electronic system.

It looks like we’re good to go again but it is not the first time this week that we’ve had issues with the system.

Aussie star Jordan Thompson was left baffled during his first-round match against Dominik Koepfer.

Despite suffering defeat to world No 3 Coco Gauff earlier tonight, Jodie Burrage more than proved she is capable of challenging some of the big players on the WTA Tour.

Not really. I was so in the moment and quite pumped up that I was just on repeat, repeat, repeat.

Yeah, the game I played serving for it, I had given everything to try and break her that I kind of just said, Okay, I’ve broken her. Kind of relaxed a little bit. As soon as you do that against a player like her, yeah, well, you saw what happened. Yeah, it didn’t go well for me.

But, like I said, yeah, confidence. You know, I really felt like I should have taken that second. I feel like it would have been interesting to see a third set to see if I could it carry that on. But, yeah, this is the level that I want to be playing, and this is the level that I think I can be playing.

Yeah, it’s the start of the year. We are three weeks in, and I feel like I’m in a good spot. So as long as I can stay on the court, I’m, yeah, excited to see what this year brings.

Thanasi Kokkinakis is being praised for a brilliant moment of sportsmanship.

He’s just given a point to Jack Draper, when the umpire had played a let that perhaps should not have been called.

The Aussie star has the crowd on their feet again as he battles to secure what could be a crucial break in the third set to go 3-1 up.

Despite suffering defeat against Coco Gauff earlier tonight, Jodie Burrage, who had spent six months out injured last year, said she was taking the positives away from tonight’s performance.

I’m very happy (smiling). I will take the highs and the lows of this sport, but I’m not done with it yet. I feel like I’m only just getting started, and I’m very, very excited to see what this year brings.

I’ve just got to keep working hard and then that showed in my level the last few weeks. Really understanding the work that I put in and what I have to do, that’s what I have taken from these last few weeks.

Again, learning from being around these big players as well, seeing them in the gym, on the practice court. But, yeah, I’m just very, very happy with how I’ve handled myself, my emotions and, you know, the level that I’ve managed to put out on the court so early in my return from my injury.

But, yeah, excited to improve. There’s still a lot to improve, but yeah, to see what this year brings.

As Draper is struggling, Fearnley has just taken a 2-1 lead over Arthur Cazaux on Court 6!

The British star has won both of the last two sets and is flying at the moment.

Here’s two quite amazing stats about the young star:

• Fearnley wasn’t ranked last year but has advanced to the second round of his first Grand Slam tournament this week
• He’s risen into the ATP Tour’s top-100 rankings, rising 1795 spots in the last year

He’s riding high on a wave of confidence in Melbourne at the moment!

Kokkinakis serves out the final game to seal the second set.

The crowd goes mental as the home favourite takes a 2-1 lead.

During the interval, the Aussie has left the court once again and it looks like he’s gone to go get some more treatment on that pectoral muscle.

The fans inside the John Cain Arena have just gone mental with Jack Draper failing to hold out to Kokkinakis’ advances on his serve.

Kokkinakis takes the 3-5 lead and will now serve for the second set.

Wow. That was a mammoth game.

Kokkinakis finally takes a 3-4 lead over Draper, forcing the Brit to hit his shot out of play.

In recent days, Kokkinakis has been embroiled in a spat with former Australian Tennis player Todd Woodbridge, who slammed the injury-plagued star for his decision to play in a lucrative Russian exhibition match last year.

Woodbridge claimed it had hindered his preparation for the Australian Open, with Kokkinakis coming into this event with several injury problems.

But Nick Kyrgios has taken to social media to back his doubles partner, Kokkinakis, lashing out at Woodbridge, branding him ‘jealous’.

Thanasi Kokkinakis showcases his giant serve again, bombing a shot 203km/h down the middle of the court for his sixth Ace of the match.

It’s 3-3 in the second set and the point gives him the advantage over Draper, but the Aussie can’t make good the opportunity.

He chooses to leave Draper’s long forehand which just connects with the baseline of the court and bounces in to draw the game back to deuce.

Kokkinakis again takes the advantage but just cannot break free from Draper’s hold, looping a long shot up and over the baseline after a long rally.

Again he takes the advantage – but we’re back to deuce again!

This set has already lasted 42 minutes. That is six minutes short of the previous, with this game having lasted for a good 20 minutes now!

Kokkinakis had gone into his first-round match with a pectoral injury earlier this week and it seems to have resurfaced again tonight.

The fans haven’t stopped cheering him here though, with some waving Greek flags towards the 28-year-old.

Alex de Minaur rushed over to watch his fiancee Katie Boulter on Tuesday night after completing a three-set victory over Botic van de Zandschulp.

There is a lot of expectation on the Aussie star at his home slam this year, with there being, for the first time in 43 years, three seeded Aussies in the men’s singles draw.

De Minaur, though, didn’t show any signs that the pressure was getting to him in his match against Van de Zandschulp.

He is also widely known as one of the nicest and humble players on the tour, the 25-year-old proved that that status again holds true, with the Aussie star producing a very classy act of sportsmanship during his first-round victory.

This isn’t looking so good for the Australian. He’s got a physio rubbing out what appears to be his right pectoral muscle.

I thought he looked as though he wasn’t looking moving so freely in the last couple of points.

He’s just putting his shirt back on and is stepping back onto the court now.

Speaking on Novak Djokovic’s 6-1 7-6 6-3 6-2 victory against Jaime Faria earlier today, John McEnroe told Discovery+ that Andy Murray was starting to look nervous while sat in Djokovic’s corner.

Andy Murray over there on the sideline, I think was starting to get a little nervous with what was going on. But, you know, this is the first Grand Slam event that Faria’s ever played. So I think in the third set, the nerves and the reality of the situation started to catch up to him.

You look at those first two matches that Djokovic has had. He played passive already in the first round. Faria today, they’re both outside the top hundred and they played some incredible tennis.

I think at the beginning of the third set, Djokovic was frustrated purely because of the level of his opponent.

Draper responds to pick up a set of his own!

I did think prior to sitting down here that this match was going to go the distance.

Both players are throwing everything at this and there have been some fantastic rallies.

While Kokkinakis is serving better, Draper appears to have him around the court.

While Draper’s service hasn’t been bad, he’s double-faulted three times.

Meanwhile, his first-serve percentage is sitting at around 55 per cent right now. Conversely, Kokkinakis’ percentage return is now 91 per cent.

It’s pretty mad out here on court 6 for Jacob Fearnley’s match against Frenchman Arthur Cazaux. There is a Scottish flag next to a Tricolore and they are in a chanting arms race.

The entire other side of the court is a hospitality section, where I’m watching from, and people are paying sporadic attention but talking and drinking throughout. Can’t be easy for Fearnley to focus but he definitely has the backing of the hospitality crowd

In case you were wondering how much the posh seats cost at the Australian Open…

Heartbreak for Jodie Burrage as she is beaten by Coco Gauff 6-3 7-5.

The British star produced a spirited comeback in the second set, giving herself the chance to serve to go even with the world No 3 breaking her service twice to go 5-3 up.

But in a huge twist of events, Gauff stepped up a gear, beating her British opponent twice on her own serve to go 6-5 up before serving out to win the match.

Speaking after his win against Jaime Faria, the 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted he thought that his Portuguese opponent was the better player.

I’m satisfied with the win. I really like the way I started the match and finished the match. The first and fourth set were the best. I was in control with a break up in the second, then dropped my level. Lost four games in a row. Managed to get back to the tiebreak.

He was the better player. I think he was firing from all cylinders. At one point he was difficult to play against because he was practically serving two first serves and going for his shots. Logically he was pumped when he won the second set.

I feel like I managed to focus in the important moments and make that crucial break at 3-2 in the third. From that moment onwards, I feel like I upped my game a bit and played a really good, good fourth set.

Overall another big test. Another three-hour match, back to back against the youngsters. Congratulations to him for a great battle. He’s really a good player that has a lot of potential as my first-round opponent.

As for the history, of course, as I said on the court, this sport has always been giving me so much in my life, an opportunity to play at the Grand Slams. I try not to take it for granted after great achievements that I’m very proud of.

Of course, Grand Slam matches and Grand Slam wins are what counts the most in our sport. Of course, I’m very thrilled with that.

Draper bounces back after losing the first set to win the first break point of the match.

As Matt says, Kokkinakis has been dominant on his own serve, but Draper is adapting well to deal with the Aussies’ power, picking off some fantastic cross-court shots to bully his way past the Aussie on his own serve.

Meanwhile, Jodie Burrage has gone 5-3 up against Coco Gauff, turning the tide on the American world No 3!

What a performance from Burrage! She had the chance to serve for the second set, but remarkably, Gauff held on to to make it 4-5.

From there, the American has pushed forward on her own serve to level things up.

It sounds like a breathtaking match over at the Rod Laver Arena

Draper is on the wrong end of a serving masterclass here from Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Aussie missed only three out of 35 first serves in the opening set.

Not much you can do against that and a Draper double fault cost him in the tiebreak.

Again, Burrage was broken early in the first game of the second set.

But it’s not all one-way traffic.

The 25-year-old has struck back again herself, in emphatic fashion, breaking Gauff to love.

She holds serve in the resulting match, but it is unforced errors that are letting the Brit down right now.

She’s made 30 errors, while Gauff has made exactly half that.

A bizarre moment now has the John Cain Arena in stitches as a young fan has just been interviewed by the stadium announcer and has said he ‘loves Thanasi more than my mum!’

The moment sends the stadium into hysterics, with the kid also pleading with Kokkinakis for a racket.

Here comes his mum and I don’t think she’s best pleased!

Draper’s hitting it a little too short here and Kokkinakis takes full advantage in the tie break.

He thunders several forehands back at Draper who can’t respond to the Aussies’ pressure as he succumbs to lose the tie break 7-3.

Meanwhile, there’s a dance-off going on in the John Cain Arena…

Thanasi Kokkinakis is sporting an Azure blue outfit today, but his shorts are grabbing the attention of some reporters in the media box here.

The Australian, who is born to Greek parents, is sporting a pair of shorts with a print of a Trojan helmet on them!

I’ve seen plenty of Greek flags around the arena tonight

Coco Gauff came out of the blocks against the British star.

The American broke the 25-year-old Londoner in the second game, but Burrage Gallantly hit back, breaking serve to go 3-2.

And despite saving two break points, she couldn’t fend off her opponent’s advances, with the American breaking back before going on to win 6-3.

Burrage had broken down in tears earlier this week after she claimed a huge victory against French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean.

The result came after the Brit has been out of action for the last six months through injury.

This one might just go the distance. Both Draper and Kokkinakis are playing well on their own serves.

But how have they fared when they’ve played in the past?

Well, it is Draper who comes out better, having won two of his three previous meetings against the Australian.

Draper has also drawn level at 4-4 with Kokkinakis, producing some brilliant play in the eighth game to move his Australian opponent around the court before placing a forehand down the right tramline.

Fans this week at Melbourne Park have told me they have dropped around $360 to snag themselves seats to watch some of the top players in headline slots.

A grounds pass will set you back around $60.

But there are some out there who are dropping nearly $30,000 for the best seats, food and drinks at Melbourne Park.

Here, Daily Mail Australia takes you inside the super-exclusive Club 1905, where some of the world’s most rich and famous people go to watch the tennis when they’re in Australia.

Over at the Rod Laver Arena, Jodie Burrage is underway against Coco Gauff, but the British star has gone 2-0 down already.

The American looks like she could go 3-0 up too, with Burrage battling to hold her own serve in the second set but falters to the world No 3’s advances.

Meanwhile at the John Cain Arena, Jack Draper has conceded the first game to Thanasi Kokkinakis but he’s struck back on his own serve to level at 1-1.

Draper admitted he was relishing this match earlier this week after beating Mariano Navone in the first round.

I think it’s great to play an Aussie here. Thanasi is a really good guy and a great player. Always a battle when I’ve played him in the past. We’ve played a few times. Seems like every match has gone the distance and been really difficult.

Obviously he’s going to have a lot of support. Today I think that was one of the things that really helped me. I felt like I had a lot of support. A lot of Brits out on the court. Hopefully I have a few when I play him.

I’ve seen a few Union Jacks inside the stadium tonight.

Meanwhile, Kokkinakis has held off Draper’s advances on his own serve to go 2-1 ahead.

Perhaps a taster of what’s to come later this year as England travel to Australia for the Ashes, Draper and Kokkinakis are just getting underway here at the John Cain Arena.

It’s first blood to the Brit!

A long rally sees Kokkinakis come to the net, with Draper hammering an unreachable volley down to the Aussies’ left side.

Kokkinakis responds with an unplayable shot of his own, thumping down a 192km/h ace into the far corner.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jack Draper have entered the Arena.

Huge cries go up for Kokkinakis but a smattering of boos go up for the Brit.

It’s a partisan crowd in here tonight for sure!

We’ve also got another huge match kicking off in the next five minutes with Coco Gauff set to square off against Jodie Burrage.

There was another big result over at the Margaret Court Arena earlier today as Carlos Alcaraz sealed a berth in the third round after beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-1 6-4.

It was a hugely impressive performance from the Spaniard who is looking to win his first Australian Open.

But there was a strange moment at the end of the match where Alcaraz wrote the words: ‘Am I a serve bot?’ on the camera screen.

It comes after Alcaraz has struggled with his service game in recent times.

He had tweaked his service game over the off-season and while it things hadn’t been perfect against Alexander Shevchenko, with Alcaraz firing through under 60 per cent of his first serves, he had vastly improved on Wednesday afternoon.

He struck 14 aces to Nishioka’s one, double-faulted three times and upped his first service per centage to 89 per cent.

More from the Rod Laver Arena now, with our correspondent Matthew Lambert recapping on Novak Djokovic’s comeback second round win.

A tough break for Ajla Tomljanovic. She crashes out of the Australian Open 6-4 7-5 after suffering a second-round defeat against Diana Shnaider.

While the Aussie star came out of the blocks quicker then her opponent in the opening set, Tomljanovic just couldn’t find an in-road on her opponent, double-faulting to give the world No 13 a match point at 6-5 before Shnaider secured the victory.

Shnaider will now take on the winner of tonight’s match between Harriet Dart or Donna Vekic in the next round.

Carlos Alcaraz has put the tennis world on notice by lumping praise on Brazilian star Joao Fonseca this afternoon.

Fonseca produced perhaps the upset of the first round on Tuesday to beat world No 9 Andrey Rublev 7-6 6-3 7-6.

It was a stunning performance from the 18-year-old Brazilian who is making his first main draw appearance at a Grand Slam this summer. It was also his maiden win against a top-10 player.

And he caught the attention of Alcaraz, who progressed to the third round of the tournament earlier today.

What can I say about it? Just incredible. I mean the way he played his first Grand Slam match against his first top-10, it’s unbelievable. The way he approached the match, the way he handled everything, the nerves, the match in general, it’s been fantastic.

It’s someone that I have to be careful of, let’s say I have to see him. He’s going to be there. It is just the beginning of the year. Just one win in a Grand Slam but he’s going to be there.

We’re going to put Joao Fonseca’s name on the list of the best players in the world really soon.

Shnaider is showing her class here. Despite being broken herself, the world No 13 has secured back-to-back breaks against Tomljanovic to go 5-4 up in the second set.

Should Shnaider beat Tomljanovic here, she’ll book her place in the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career.

But the Aussie isn’t letting her steal the show just yet, serving out herself to pull level at 5-5.

Yesterday at The Margaret Court Arena Elena Rybakina sealed a 6-1 6-1 victory against Aussie star Emerson Jones.

But before the match, the umpire had to decide which player should take which towel stand.

And the umpire’s reasoning as to who took which stand had some fans laughing online.

She strikes back with a huge break to go 4-3 down against Shnaider.

A totally impressive comeback from the Aussie who initially missed out on getting the break at 15-40, after her forehand bounced just inches wide of the right tramline.

It didn’t matter though, with Tomljanovic taking control of the game, she struck back at 30-40 to seal a huge break.

It would be great to see the Aussie progress further into the tournament considering the injury woes she has had to battle back from in the last few years.

Speaking on Monday, Tomljanovic revealed that the injury problems had helped her relish playing in the Grand Slams more.

I am definitely getting to a stage where I try to cherish it a lot more than before, but I think in my dark moments, yes, but I think the reason I’m still here is because I always kind of, the last thought is always a positive one. So I think my knee has given me a lot of trouble, but I think I’ve tried to find so many solutions over the last two years, and I definitely feel like I’m on the other side or getting close to it.

Fair play to Tomljanovic, she’s putting up a great fight here and has just served out to love.

She’s 4-2 down in the second and needs to follow up that impressive serving performance with a break here.

The Aussie cut a dejected figure as she walked off the court in the last interchange.

Tomljanovic can’t make good her fast start as Shnaider hits back with two breaks of her own.

The final game was a real tussle with Tomljanovic saving three set points before she succumbed to her opponent to lose the set 6-4.

Schnaider has kept her foot on the gas pedal into the second set, with the world No 13 going 3-1 up.

But Tomljanovic is still fighting. She takes the fifth game to deuce, smashing down a lofted shot into the far right corner of Schnaider’s court to keep her chances of breaking back alive.

In the end, it’s Shnaider who takes the game to go 4-1 up.

Can Tomljanovic pull this one back?

The Scotsman was back in the corner for Novak this afternoon after the pair had intrigued fans earlier this week with their on-court interactions inside the Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic initially described Murray’s presence on court as ‘strange’, before stating that their partnership has been very beneficial to him.

‘I really like the feeling of having Andy as my coach in the corner this year,’ the 24-time slam winner said, adding that he liked the new coaching pod system in play at the Grand Slam.

‘A few times I did approach Andy to ask him something about whatever it was, whatever shot. He was giving me guidance.

‘It’s important, I enjoy talking to Andy. I mean he knows tennis as well as anybody out there. He understands the highs and lows that you go through. Not just game-wise but mentally and physically.’

And even after having retired last year, it seems Murray’s been in the gym and is looking shredded!

Novak Djokovic came back from going a set down to Jaime Faria to secure his berth in the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-1 7-6 6-3 6-2 victory.

But there was a bizarre moment during the match where Djokovic fumed at Australian Open organisers.

After a massive rally the 24-time Grand Slam winner began to complain about the use of the floodlights.

They had been switched on rather suddenly at the Rod Laver Arena with Djokovic protesting at officials to turn the glaring lights off.

‘We will wait for them to switch them off,’ he said.

‘Wait for the end of the set if they want to switch them on.’

Loud cheers went up around Rod Laver after the lights were eventually switched off.

Faria had also stated he was not spoken to about the use of the floodlights. The roof at Rod Laver had been shut due to rain.

It’s the second time this week that a camera man filming the players walking out onto the arena has taken a tumble.

Earlier this week over at the Rod Laver Arena, a camera man was filming Jannik Sinner’s entrance for his match against Nicolas Jarry, when the videographer tripped and fell while walking backwards.

Well, ahead of Tomljanovic’s match against Shnaider the same thing happened again, with a camera man again tripping over on a mat on the court at the John Cain Arena as he filmed the Aussie’s entrance.

Tomljanovic looked a little shocked by the moment before helping the camera man back to his feet.

Luckily, it seems the camera man and his camera were all OK after the fall!

Meanwhile, Tomljanovic is fighting hard here to stay in this opening set, she’s gone 5-4 down and has just saved two set points, forcing her opponent to make several errors to take the game back to deuce.

Novak Djokovic has surpassed Roger Federer to have played the highest number of Grand Slam Singles matches in the Open Era.

But today’s victory wasn’t all plain sailing for the former world No 1, with Djokovic again getting off to a poor start in the match, losing the first set to Jaime Faria as he did in his opening match against Nishesh Basavareddy earlier in the week.

The result means Djokovic is still on track to win his 11th Australian Open title and today played his 430th Grand Slam singles match, surpassing another tennis great, Federer, who managed 429 during his glittering career.

We’ll hear more from Novak in a bit, but I want to quickly update you on a funny moment that has just unfolded inside the John Cain Arena…

A very good afternoon to you! It’s a little cold and wet here at Melbourne Park today compared to yesterday and play on the outdoor courts has been suspended twice today due to the rain.

I’m currently sat watching Aussie star Ajla Tomljanovic inside The John Cain Arena and the atmosphere is building quite nicely with organisers having closed the roof.

Tomljanovic has gotten off to a flying start in this one breaking her opponent who is ranked 13th on the WTA tour to take a 3-2 lead.

Elsewhere, we’ve got a ton of huge matchups coming your way, with Coco Gauff set to go head-to-head with Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage, while fellow Brit Jack Draper goes up against Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Stay tuned as we’ll be bringing you all the latest news, updates and talking points from Melbourne Park!