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Over on Margaret Court Arena, the Italian stallions Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori have Spanish pair Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar on the rack after taking the first 6-3 in their third round game.
Mirra Andreeva has her first break point of the game against Aryna Sabalenka in the round of 16 women’s singles match on centre court. Can she convert?
Andreeva strikes back! Sabalenka was going for the throat in that game, pummelling returns in a bid to break the teenager a second time. Instead Andreeva stayed calm and made it five points in a row to get things back to 3-2 in the second set. That was the Russian’s best game of the match so far. Is it a turning point?
Double trouble for Mirra Andreeva. She has lost her second serving game and is unravelling on Rod Laver Arena with even foot faults creeping in.
Two unforced errors gift Aryna Sabalenka an early 30-0 lead in this fourth game of the second set but swinging big for the corners, she gets things back to 30-30. Sabalenka, serving at 72%, crashes a second serve to get to 40-30 but Andreeva hangs tough, a looping return eluding Sabalenka’s backhand.
But just when the teenager forces the longest game of the match so far, she sends two returns wide to concede the game. Sabalenka leads 6-1, 3-1.
Where to now for Mirra Andreeva? She was mauled in that first set and must change things up and start swinging for the fences if she’s to trouble Sabalenka. Showing composure, Andreeva serves out the first game – a nice start. Can she go on with it?
With utter ruthlessness Aryna Sabalenka takes the first set 6-1.
That set was a 24-minute demolition of Mirra Andreeva and the 17 year old will have to find something very special if she’s to fight her way into this match.
Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Oh no. Mirra Andreeva has been broken again on centre court. She’s now 5-1 down after just 20 minutes. Aryna Sabalenka has served up a potent brew of power and finesse to completely overwhelm her teenage rival so far. On the final shot of this game, a flurry of bludgeoning baseline shots softened Andreeva up before the No 1 brought the velvet hammer down with a sublime drop shot.
The 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva is under early pressure after losing an early break to Aryna Sabalenka who has defied crowd distractions and even a low-flying airplane to surge to a 4-1 lead. The No 1 seed has dropped only one point so far.
No 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka and No 14 Mirra Andreeva are into it on Rod Laver Arena. Servers are dominating so far with both players winning their opening games to love and Sabalenka just taking the second to lead 2-1 in the first set.
Preamble
Hello tennis fans and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the 2025 Australian Open. Angus Fontaine here guiding you through the early follies and volleys before Jonathan Howcroft picks up the cudgels in the afternoon session.
We are into round four and the action is heating up. Temperatures are set to reach 30C+ in Melbourne today and the first stars into the pressure cooker of Rod Laver Arena will be the No 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka taking on 17-year-old sensation Mirra Andreeva (seeded 14). That match commences shortly.
That tussle will be followed by another women’s single showdown when America’s No 3 seed Coco Gauff’s clashes with Switzerland’s unseeded veteran Belinda Bencvic.
Ourc death in the afternoon duel today is between Great Britain’s No 15 seed Jack Draper and Spain’s smiling assassin Carlos Alcaraz, seeded No 3 and popular favourite to take the men’s singles title this year.
The night arrives in style with No 7 seed Novak Djokovic taking on Czech Republic’s No 24 seed Jiri Lehecka. On the doubles court Australian hopes will rest with Luke Saville and Li Tu who face off with the pair of Goransson and Verbeek.
There’s doubles about to get under way on Margaret Court Arena too so buckle ‘em up and batten ‘em down, we’re about to light the fuse on day eight…
