The action at the Australian Open is starting to heat up on Day 6 as we edge closer to the second week of the Grand Slam.
On Friday the upsets continued to roll in with some big name stars sent packing with none bigger than Daniil Medvedev.
Watch Tennis Live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. Live Coverage of ATP + WTA Tour Tournaments including Every Finals Match. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The Russian was eliminated by American Sebastian Korda in straight sets, meaning all four finalists from last year’s tournament are out before the conclusion of round three.
16th seed Frances Tiafoe, 11th seed Cam Norrie were also bundled out in another wild day of action.
In the women’s draw number one seed Iga Swiatek proved why she’s the one to beat with a dominant display as number 6 seed Maria Sakkari and number 10 seed Madison Keys were knocked out.
Don’t miss any of the action right here (all times AEDT).
5.10pm – Demon through to 4th round
Unlucky spectators who found themselves in the only shadeless section of Rod Laver Arena on Saturday afternoon watched an Alex De Minaur clinic but had one gripe.
“Can we close the bloody roof?,” one fan shouted to laughter throughout the packed stadium.
De Minaur cruised through to the fourth round of the Australia Open with a straight sets win over Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
The Aussie took just over two hours to advance, 7-6 6-2 6-1. He only lost three games in the last two sets.
It is the second year in a row that De Minaur has made it through to the round of 16, equalling his best ever result at a grand slam.
After the match, De Minaur said he was stoked to get away in three sets.
“As a kid, this is what you train for. I’m pretty happy, I won’t lie.”
He will next face the winner of tonight’s clash between Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov.
– Rohan Smith
3pm – American slams ‘poor sportsmanship and cheating’
American Alison Riske-Amritraj has taken to social media to hit out at ‘poor sportsmanship and cheating’ after a dramatic moment in her second-round doubles victory on Friday (see more below).
Taking to Twitter on Saturday, the fiery American shared vision of the incident in question alongside a message that left few prisoners.
“She (the opponent) should have called it on herself & the umpire apologised for his incorrect ruling after, which I accepted,” Riske said.
“Poor sportsmanship and cheating happens all the time, especially at the junior level.
“Parents/players spend too much time, money & mental energy for that experience.
“As you can tell, I am extremely passionate about helping tennis’ future here. If you’re working on a compelling piece of line calling or VAR tech and need help funding/scaling please DM me.”
The drama unfolded after Riske-Amritraj belted the ball into the body of her opponent before promptly apologising.
But talking in the middle of points isn’t allowed and chair umpire Nico Helwerth awarded the point to opponents Alexandra Panova and Natela Dzalamidze.
“Ladies and gentlemen due to the hindrance Ms Riske-Amritraj has created, the point goes to Dzalamidze/Panova,” said Helwerth.
The American was left seeing red as the conversation between the player and umpire kicked off with Helwerth refusing to overturn his ruling.
“That’s the rule,” he said.
“She said ‘sorry’ while the ball is in play. I know she doesn’t do it on purpose, but that’s not the point.”
Her doubles partner, Linda Fruhvitova, weighed in saying the apology came after it had hit her opponent with replays backing up Fruhvitova’s case.
The supervisor was then called for by the fired up American and the barbs continued to fly.
“What the hell is he doing up there then? That’s f***ing ridiculous,” said Riske-Amritraj.
“No, no, that’s ridiculous. Is he sleeping? Dude. I wouldn’t say sorry (before the point is complete).
“It hit her so I said sorry. So it’s my point.”
The supervisor offered, “He’s seen it differently and it’s the umpire’s job to see it.”
That remark from the chair umpire didn’t go down well with the American who turned her outburst into a sarcastic temper tantrum.
“That makes no sense. Dude. Oh, the way you see it? The way you see it? I’m sure you see it that way.
“That’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely ridiculous. Pay attention. Dude, that’s tennis 101.”
Riske-Amritraj and Fruhvitova dropped the second set but won the match 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 to advance into the next round.
2.30pm – Dan Evans shares bananas
British 25th seed Dan Evans has delighted fans with a lovely moment of sportsmanship in his third round clash with Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
During a break in the first set, Evans noticed Rublev was looking for a banana having seemingly not been provided any.
Holding two bananas at the time, Evans shouted out to Rublev before throwing ones of his bananas over to his opponent.
Rublev however was in no mood for generosity as he powered his way to a dominant three set victory, winning 6-4 6-2 6-3.
Rublev shouted out Evans for his good deed during the post-match interview.
“I didn’t ask him (for a banana) I asked the ballboy, but Danny had asked for bananas earlier, he had two so he just said ‘take it’ so I just catch it,” Rublev said.
“He helped me with my energy for sure.”
2pm – Dominant wins in female draw
Three early women’s games were decided in straight sets on Saturday afternoon with China’s Zhang Shuai, Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic all scoring easy victories.
Shuai defeated Katie Volynets 6- 3 6-2, Bencic defeated Camila Giorgi 6-2 7-5 and Pliskova defeated Varvara Gracheva 6-4 6-2.
12:30pm – Tennis star’s terrifying health revelation
Alexander Zverev has lifted the lid on the terrifying health issue that he’s forced to deal with every single day.
In a revealing interview with Channel 9, the German star opened up on living with Type 1 diabetes, saying his diagnosis came as a major shock.
“My parents were very scared, obviously very worried, mum was crying a lot,” he told Nine. “A lot of parents get intimidated by a lot of doctors who say ‘your kid is very limited’, which is not the case.
“I would say to the doctors, ‘well yeah, I want to play tennis. That’s the only thing I really care about’.
“Some of them said ‘no, you have to stop, you cannot (play) … there’s no way you can be a professional athlete with this kind of illness, there’s no way you can play such a hard, physical sport’.
“This is what really stuck into my mind. It made me quite upset, as well, to be honest, because I don’t think you should set any limits to kids. It’s just not fair to them.”
Zverev is determind to keep shining a light on the health issue, hoping to show younger players it’s not anything to be embarrassed by.
“Kids at the age of 9, 10, 11 – at times my devices were broken, my insulins were smashed,” Zverev said. “I was just uncomfortable with it. I was always trying to hide it. I wasn’t checking my insulin levels in public.
“During matches, you never saw me do a shot or anything, I was always going to the bathroom to do it which is not the right thing to do.
“Maybe I have all of that trauma from back in the days, but you should never be embarrassed of it.”
11am – Aussie young guns wild 18-year AO first
Alexei Popyrin is on a historical run at the Australian Open. After sending American Taylor Fritz packing on Thursday, the rising young gun joined Aussie royalty.
“He’s the first Aussie since 2005 to knock out a top 10 player and a seed. Since Lleyton Hewitt. It’s quite remarkable,” Jelena Dokic says of the 23-year-old.
“It’s just a way that he’s almost been able to reinvent himself as a person and player this year. He’s won more matches this year than he did all of last year. He’s worked so hard, changed the people that he works with.
“He’s now a favourite in the next match. That is very, very different than going out and swinging freely against someone like Taylor Fritz. The mindset changes.”
Popyrin returns to the court where he’ll take on Ben Shelton on John Cain Arena tonight with a spot in the fourth round up for grabs.
We poor amateur tennis players only marginally have the opportunity to experience what the champions feel on the world’s
LIVE MATCH: Iga Swiatek vs Karolína MuchováRoland-Garros women - June 10th, 2023Follow the Roland-Garros women Tennis match between Iga Swiatek and Karolína
World No 1 Iga Swiatek will be out to establish French Open supremacy by claiming a hat-trick of titles at Roland Garros but unsee
Slovak qualifier Rebecca Sramkova reached the last four of the Makaraska Open by edging out Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl, the No 6 se