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Norrie and Zverev are going through the pre-match formalities. The umpire tells the players to smile big for the cameras. Not sure how easy that is for Norrie, given the British No 2, the last Brit standing in the singles, has lost to Zverev in all six of their previous meetings. The last time they played at the Australian Open was in 2024, when Norrie was denied 7-6 in the fifth set. But Norrie will at least take something from the fact he was able to push Zverev all the way then, and the fact that this is a night match, with slightly slower conditions, may help Norrie, because the rallies will be longer and more attritional and that’s what he loves.
Up next: we’ve got De Minaur v Tiafoe on Rod Laver and Norrie v Zverev on John Cain and Svitolina v Shnaider on Margaret Court.
Tumaini has more on Mboko’s victory – and Sabalenka’s. Because they’ll play each other in the last 16:
Victoria Mboko has given herself a shot at Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, in the fourth round of the Australian Open, after the 19-year-old prodigy held her nerve at the end of an incredibly tense tussle to close out a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 win over the 14th seed Clara Tauson.
Mboko, seeded 17th in Melbourne, showed her mental toughness at the end of a quality match between two young players by playing an authoritative final set after squandering match points. Mboko had served for the match at 7-6 (5), 5-3 before losing her service game to love. She then generated three match points at 5-4 but while Mboko was extremely tight, Tauson struck the ball with total freedom to retrieve the break.
“I think it was just self-belief at the end,” Mboko said. “I had so many chances in the second set but I’ve got to give credit where it’s due, she was playing incredible tennis so I just had to lock in, in the important moments. This is my first time here so I’m really happy to go through to the fourth round.”
The victory marks the first grand slam fourth round of her career, her previous best being a third-round run at the French Open last year from qualifying. The Canadian’s reward is a meeting with the two-time champion Sabalenka, who dragged herself into the fourth round in two tie-break sets, defeating Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).
Although Sabalenka was frustrated with her level of play, her fighting spirit carried her through. She saved two set points in the second set tiebreak, with Potapova double faulting on the first set point.
“Aryna five years ago would probably be focusing too much on the way she feels and completely lose these games,” Sabalenka said. “Nowadays with the experience, I learned a lot that it doesn’t really matter how you feel, it’s all about your mentality, your mental strength to be there, to just try your best, to put the ball ugly, with the terrible technique, with completely body being disconnected, but just try to put it back and fight.
“Because you never know. You have to stay there and you have to fight and you have to show your opponent that no matter how I feel, no matter what’s going on, I’ll still be there, I’ll still be fighting, and I’ll still be willing to find something that’s going to help me to be willing to fight in the match.”
You can read the rest here:
The 18-year-old’s win follows the 19-year-old Mboko’s earlier, and we’ve still got the 18-year-old Andreeva to come in the night session. With five women in total playing in the third round, it’s the most at a major since the 2009 US Open. Despite the increased emphasis on strength and size at the top of the game in recent years, the prodigies are thriving, and it’s great for the game.
Jovic, seeded 29, will face the unseeded Yulia Putintseva in the last 16, so she’ll go into her first fourth-round match at a slam in the strange position of being the favourite. Not that I think that’ll faze her. As for Paolini, it’s another grand slam disappointment, who hasn’t been able to push on since her runs to the 2024 French Open and Wimbledon finals.
“It feels amazing,” Jovic says. “I’ve been wanting this one for a while now. I just tried to focus [in the tie-break] on what I was doing earlier in the match, when I served for the match I was a bit passive, so I told myself to go out swinging in the tie-break.” She then thanks her family who’ve flown in from LA. She reminds me of how her fellow American Coco Gauff was when she broke through on tour, in how she speaks with a maturity beyond her years. She looks like the real deal.
Jovic beats Paolini 6-2, 7-6
If you haven’t heard that much about Jovic before, she’s some talent. The 18-year-old has been described by Andy Roddick as having “power you can’t teach”, but what also sets her apart from almost all of her peers is her focus, dedication and maturity. A year ago she was ranked at No 191, but now is seeded for the first time at a slam, having already won WTA titles on three surfaces, and she’s again closing in on the biggest victory of her career as she edges 5-3 ahead. And a fizzing forehand gives her three match points at 6-3! Paolini prods wide and Jovic has well and truly arrived! It’s her first win over a top-10 player and she’s also broken new ground by advancing to the fourth round of a grand slam. What a result to get us started.
Let’s get straight to the John Cain Arena, because Jovic, having served for the match twice, has been taken to a tie-break by Paolini. The first four points of the breaker go against serve, and there are plenty of oooohs and aaaaaahs as Paolini turns defence into attack in an absorbing point to charge forward to the short ball. Paolini shows superb defence on the next point too, but Jovic is eventually able to pierce it. They change ends at 3-3 …
Preamble
G’day and welcome to our coverage of day six, where the stories so far are aplenty. Both the world No 1s have won: Aryna Sabalenka in two tight, tense, tie-break sets against her friend Anastasia Potapova, while Carlos Alcaraz advanced more comfortably, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 against the Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
Two of the most precocious teenagers in tennis have also taken the headlines, with victorious Victoria Mboko, the 19-year-old Canadian, defeating the 14th seed Clara Tauson, and Iva Jovic, the 18-year-old Californian, on the verge of taking out Jasmine Paolini, leading 6-2, 6-5. More on that to follow …
Daniil Medvedev v2.0 came from two sets down to defeat Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, Coco Gauff also went the distance before beating fellow American Hailey Baptiste, there have been wins for Gauff’s compatriots Tommy Paul and Learner Thien, plus the wonderful Czech Karolina Muchova.
And there’s so much more to get stuck into in the night session too, with the last Australian man in the singles Alex de Minaur facing the American showman Frances Tiafoe in a potential blockbuster and the last surviving Brit Cameron Norrie taking on the 2025 runner-up Alexander Zverev. We also get to enjoy the perennially popular Elena Svitolina, the enigmas that are Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik (Rublev is currently 6-4 down against Francisco Cerundolo) and arguably the most talented teen of all, Mirra Andreeva. What with Mboko and Jovic too, perhaps another prodigy era in women’s tennis is dawning.
It may still be dark outside my window in London, but Melbourne Park is shining, so let’s bask in that glow whatever your worldly whereabouts may be.
