The Australian Open spherical of 16 has been selected one other huge day of upsets at Melbourne Park.
14th seed Tommy Paul, thirteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov and eleventh seed Casper Ruud had been all among the many casualties within the males’s draw, whereas eleventh seed Jelena Ostapenko and twenty seventh seed Emma Navarro had been dumped out of the ladies’s draw.
But none had been greater than the scalp of ladies’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who was defeated in three-sets by Czech teenager Linda Noskova.
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The 19-year-old world No. 50 shocked the world with an unimaginable 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
It appeared like it will go to the script early after Swiatek received the primary set however the teenager stunned herself to drag off the victory.
The result’s the earliest a world No. 1 has been eradicated within the girls’s draw on the Australian Open since 1979 when Aussie Mary Sawyer beat then prime seed Virginia Ruzici within the first spherical.
Noskova additionally grew to become the primary teenager to defeat the world No. 1 on the AO since Amelie Mauresmo beat Lindsay Davenport on the 1999 semi-final.
She can be the bottom ranked lady to defeat a No. 1 seed at Melbourne Park since then-world No. 81 Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova within the 2007 last.
“I’m speechless,” she stated. “Obviously I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world number one, such an amazing player.
“I didn’t really think it was going to end up like this.”
The outcome leaves simply seven seeded gamers remaining within the girls’s draw.
Out of these 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka, 4th seed Coco Gauff and ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova stay in rivalry from the highest 10 seeds — all three of which shall be in motion on Sunday.
Noskova will now play nineteenth seed Elina Svitolina, who thumped Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-2 6-3.
Day 8 shall be an enormous one with the lads’s draw attending to the sharp finish with all 4 matches between seeded gamers.
That consists of the one Aussie left with tenth seed Alex de Minaur to play fifth seed Andrey Rublev at 7pm.
12.02pm – Zverev goes via comfortably
13 males’s seeds will contest the spherical of 16, demolishing American Alex Michelsen 6-2 7-6 6-2 in a ruthless efficiency.
Zverev will now face nineteenth seed Cam Norrie within the subsequent spherical, who ousted eleventh seed Casper Ruud in 4 units earlier within the day.
10.55pm – Svitolina survives pattern
Elina Svitolina has raced via her conflict with Swiss star Viktorija Golubic, dominating her opponent 6-2 6-3.
She will play the giant-killing teenager Linda Noskova, who knocked out world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
It means simply seven of the ladies’s seeds have made it via to the spherical of 16, nevertheless, none will play within the fourth spherical, that means there could possibly be as many as seven seeded gamers within the quarterfinals.
For perspective, 13 seeded gamers are nonetheless alive within the males’s draw.
10.25pm – Seeds dropping like flies
It’s the a part of the Aussie Open the place seeds have to begin falling, however you don’t anticipate it on the prime finish of the draw.
Portugal’s world No. 69 Nuno Borges has taken out thirteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov in a 6-7 6-4 6-2 7-6 upset that considerably acquired misplaced when girls’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek acquired knocked out.
But it’s simply as large a win for the 26-year-old Portuguese star, who has now booked a match with Daniil Medvedev.
The outcome makes historical past as Borges turns into the primary Portuguese participant in historical past to make the fourth spherical of the Australian Open in both the lads’s or girls’s draw.
9.38pm – World No. 1 out in beautiful scenes
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is out of the Australian Open after the bloodbath amongst seeded gamers continued in beautiful scenes.
The 19-year-old world No. 50 Linda Noskova shocked the world with an unimaginable 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
It appeared like it will go to the script early after Swiatek received the primary set however the teenager stunned herself to drag off the victory.
The result’s the earliest a world No. 1 has been eradicated within the girls’s draw on the Australian Open since 1979 when Aussie Mary Sawyer beat then prime seed Virginia Ruzici within the first spherical.
Noskova additionally grew to become the primary teenager to defeat the world No. 1 on the AO since Amelie Mauresmo beat Lindsay Davenport on the 1999 semi-final.
She can be the bottom ranked lady to defeat a No. 1 seed at Melbourne Park since then-world No. 81 Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova within the 2007 last.
“I’m speechless,” she stated. “Obviously I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world number one, such an amazing player.
“I didn’t really think it was going to end up like this.”
There are simply seven seeded gamers remaining within the girls’s draw, with nineteenth seed Elina Svitolina nonetheless to play on Saturday evening.
Out of these 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka, 4th seed Coco Gauff and ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova stay in rivalry.
Noskova will now play the winner of nineteenth seed Elina Svitolina and Viktorija Golubic, who’re enjoying proper now.
9.22pm – No sleep, no worries for Medvedev
Third seed Daniil Medvedev is into the spherical of 16 on the Australian Open regardless of his early morning end on Thursday.
Medvedev’s final match — a 5 set win over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori — completed at 3.40am within the newest farcical scene.
But you’ll by no means anticipate he was quick on sleep as he blew twenty seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime off the courtroom in a 6-3 6-4 6-3 thrashing.
8.25pm – eleventh seed dumped out of AO
eleventh seed Casper Ruud is out of the Australian Open after falling in 4 units to Brit Cam Norrie.
Norrie, the final Brit left in both the lads’s or girls’s draw on the match, cruised via to the ultimate 16 with a 6-4 6-7 6-4 6-3 win over the three-time grand slam finalist.
It’s the deepest Norrie has gone in an Australian Open and he’ll face the winner of the Zverev-Michelsen conflict.
7.15pm – Former semi-finalist loses the plot
American Tommy Paul would have extraordinarily fond recollections of the 2023 Australian Open, when he made a memorable run to the semi-finals.
He will wish to neglect the 2024 version as quickly as attainable.
Paul, the 14th seed, held two match factors within the fourth set tie-break throughout his conflict with Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
He was unable to capitalise, with Kecmanovic claiming the tie-break 9-7.
And Paul would fail to win one other recreation, succumbing 6-0 within the fifth set in 19 beautiful minutes.
“A staggering turn of events here,” commentator David Culbert stated in that fifth set.
One of Paul’s racquets felt the brunt of his anger as he meekly departed the match in a 6-4 3-6 2-6 7-6 6-0 defeat on Margaret Court Arena.
6.25pm – Ageless two-time champ in rivalry once more
Victoria Azarenka contested her first Australian Open method again in 2006 and went on to win the match twice, in 2012 and 2013.
She additionally reached the semi-finals final 12 months and has three different quarter-finals to her credit score.
At the age of 34, the Belarusian can nonetheless compete with the most effective, transferring into the spherical of 16 courtesy of a 6-1 7-5 victory over Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday evening.
Azarenka fired 11 aces and received all 4 of her break level alternatives, in comparison with simply one in every of seven for the Latvian.
She will subsequent face Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska for a shot at one other quarter-final berth at Melbourne Park.
5pm – Carlos Alcaraz makes Aussie Open historical past
Popular Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz ticked off just a few milestones on Saturday, some welcome, others not a lot.
Firstly, the 20-year-old was enjoying somebody youthful than him for the primary time in 18-year-old wildcard Shang Juncheng from China.
Alcaraz, the world No. 2, would additionally win the match, marking the primary time he has made the second week of the Australian grand slam.
It was simply the way of victory that Alcaraz didn’t take pleasure in, with Shang having to retire damage with an obvious quad damage.
Alcaraz strolled to a 6-1 6-1 1-0 win earlier than Shang withdrew in an energy-saving afternoon for the reigning Wimbledon champion.
4.20pm – American star’s mid-match meal
Sloane Stephens had received the primary set of her third spherical match towards Anna Kalinskaya and was trailing 0-5 within the second when she acquired a mid-match meal.
Whether the American hadn’t eaten earlier than play or simply felt the necessity for a lift in the course of the match, her coach seemingly organised for meals and drinks to be delivered courtesy of a ballkid in a extremely uncommon second.
Two servings of sushi and two smoothies had been quickly seen amongst Stephens’ belongings.
Apparently the transfer didn’t go down properly with the chair umpire.
“(Stephens is) being told to hurry up between points, just a bit of discussion, and among that just knocking off a little bit of sushi as well,” a Channel 9 commentator stated.
“So she is multi-tasking out here.”
“It’s pretty impressive,” one other commentator added. “We just saw her coach come and give one of the ballkids some, it looked like two packets of sushi, it looked like that’s what she was eating. Obviously needing some well-needed fuel.”
When the subsequent digital camera shot was centered on the meal, the primary commentator added: “It looked like salmon avocado I thought.”
It didn’t assist, with former US Open champion Stephens finally bowing out 6-7 6-1 6-4.
3.15pm – A rising Chinese star reaches week two
Zheng Qinwen, the twelfth seed in Melbourne, snuck previous compatriot Wang Yafan in a decent three-set conflict on Rod Laver Arena.
The 21-year-old Zheng, who received three tournaments in 2023 and sits at a career-high No. 13 within the rankings, claimed the primary set 6-4.
Wang, who knocked out crowd favorite Emma Raducanu within the final spherical, hit again strongly to take the second 6-2 earlier than Zheng simply prevailed in a third-set tie-break 10-8.
Next up Zheng faces Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin, who eradicated compatriot Clara Burel earlier on Saturday, 6-2 6-4.
2pm – Nikolayevna advances after third spherical win
Russia’s Anna Nikolayevna has superior to the Round of 16 with a 6-7 6-1 6-4 victory over American Sloane Stephens.
The 25-year-old got here again from a set down after dropping the opening set in a tie-breaker.
Stephens reduce a annoyed determine at instances and was additionally engaged in an argument with the chair umpire over the size of her breaks between video games.
1.10pm – Ukrainian qualifier continues unimaginable run
Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska has continued her unimaginable and unlikely Aussie Open run, advancing to the fourth spherical with a 6-2 2-6 6-1 victory over American Emma Navarro.
Yastremska, ranked no. 93 on the planet, fired down 5 aces within the match and hit 15 winners within the last set as she overpowered the twenty seventh seed.
“In general it was a nice game,” Yastremska stated.
“Of course I could play much more better.”
She strikes into the final 16 at a significant for the primary time in her profession since 2019 at Wimbledon.
12.20pm – Kalinskaya takes opener from Stephens
Russian participant Anna Kalinskaya shall be left kicking herself after blowing three possibilities within the opening set tie-break towards American Sloane Stephens.
Kalinskaya raced away within the tie-break to steer 6-3 however wasn’t capable of money in as Stephens flipped the script and secured the tie-break 10-8 after 70 minutes of enjoying time within the first set.
11:15am – Djokovic drops Federer reality bomb
Novak Djokovic has admitted his love of speaking trash acquired underneath the pores and skin of Swiss legend Roger Federer throughout his early days on tour.
Following his third spherical encounter, Djokovic stated he continues to struggle psychological demons all through contests.
“It’s not always a positive pep talk,” he stated. “There’s a lot of trash talk happening inside of my head.
“I guess it’s part of the game, it’s part of who I am. I mean, I’m quite certain that everyone goes through their crisis moments, particularly in the matches where they don’t feel their best and they have doubts.” He added: “I’m trying to fight the demons that I have, as anybody else, on the court.”
But it was when he was requested about his brash methods when he first got here on tour that he admitted his type rubbed Federer the mistaken method.
“I know certainly Federer didn’t like the way I was behaving at the beginning. I think it didn’t sit with him well. I don’t know about the others,” Djokovic stated.
“I guess I wasn’t the favourite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world”.
The World No. 1 additional added, “I never, ever lacked respect. Whenever I start a match, before the match or finish the match, I would always greet the opponent, always acknowledge. Respect is something that I was taught that needs to be present regardless of what is happening.”
10.45am – Legend roasted after asking ‘worst question ever’
Tennis icon Jim Courier has been pressured to backtrack virtually immediately over one query to Aussie star Alex de Minaur.
The tenth seed made gentle work of his third spherical opponent as he secured the 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Italian Flavio Cobolli.
It means de Minaur is the primary native man in 20 years to make it into the second week of the Australian Open for 3 consecutive years.
But it was throughout his on courtroom interview with Courier when issues went south with the American retracting his “terrible question”.
“We don’t know who your opponent is going to be. They are just getting ready to go. Andrey Rublev or Sebastian Korda, both terrific players and both players you have beaten in the past. What do you think about that potential match-up? Do you have a preference?”
Before the Aussie may even reply, Courier withdrew his query whereas additionally calling himself out.
“That’s a terrible question, the worst question ever. Let me retract that!”
Courier then merely requested how he likes his possibilities of making it to the quarter-final.
“It’s all going to come down to the level I bring the following match,” De Minaur stated.
“I’ve got to back myself up, I’ve got to believe, got to play positive tennis. I know the whole crowd is going to be behind me and am going to enjoy every second of it.”
Rublev proved far too sturdy for Korda and arrange a tantalising showdown towards the Aussie celebrity within the fourth spherical.
Australian Open Day 7 schedule and outcomes
Rod Laver Arena from 12pm (AEDT)
Qinwen Zhang (CHN) [12] vs Yafan Wang (CHN)
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) [2] vs Juncheng Shang (CHN)
From 7pm
Iga Swiatek (POL) [1] vs Linda Noskova (CZE)
Alexander Zverev (GER) [6] vs Alex Michelsen (USA)
Margaret Court Arena from 12pm
Tommy Paul (USA) [14] vs Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
Jelena Ostapenko (AUT) [11] vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [18]
From 7pm
Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [3] vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) [27]
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [19] vs Viktorija Golubic (SUI)
John Cain Arena from 11am
Emma Navarro (USA) [27] vs Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
Hubert Hurkacz (POL) [9] vs Ugo Humbert (FRA) [21]
From 5pm
Casper Ruud (NOR) [11] vs Cameron Norrie (GBR) [19]
Source: www.news.com.au
