World No.1 Ash Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka could set up a tantalising fourth-round showdown at the Australian Open with victories at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Barty, whose stunning form has seen her drop just three games so far, takes on 30th seed Camila Giorgi in the third round, while Osaka faces Amanda Anisimova, who won the Melbourne Summer Set 2 tournament in the lead-up.
Barty and Osaka have both won twice against each other but have not met in over two years.
In a battle of the French Open champions, holder Barbora Krejcikova plays 2017 winner Jelena Ostapenko, while Victoria Azarenka continues her quest for an unlikely third Australian Open title against 15th seed Elina Svitolina.
Among the men, the up-and-coming Carlos Alcaraz will be in action against seventh seed Matteo Berrettini on Rod Laver Arena, which will be followed by another heavyweight clash involving 20-times major winner Rafa Nadal and the big-hitting Karen Khachanov.
World No.3 Alexander Zverev is also in action on Friday following his of Aussie John Millman, with the German hoping to stay on course for a maiden Grand Slam triumph against qualifier Radu Albot.
Day five order of play
Rod Laver Arena
Play begins at 12am
(24) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) v (15) Elina Svitolina (Ukr),
(4) Barbora Krejcikova (Cze) v (26) Jelena Ostapenko (Lat),
(31) Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (Spa) v (7) Matteo Berrettini (Ita),
Not before 8am GMT
(1) Ashleigh Barty (Aus) v (30) Camila Giorgi (Ita),
(28) Karen Khachanov (Rus) v (6) Rafael Nadal (Spa)
Margaret Court Arena
Play begins at 12am
Nuria Parrizas-Diaz (Spa) v (21) Jessica Pegula (USA)
Marta Kostyuk (Ukr) v (8) Paula Badosa Gibert (Spa)
(23) Reilly Opelka (USA) v (14) Denis Shapovalov (Can)
Not before 8am GMT
Amanda Anisimova (USA) v (13) Naomi Osaka (Jpn)
Adrian Mannarino (Fra) v (18) Aslan Karatsev (Rus)
John Cain Arena
Play begins at 12am
Rinky Hijikata (Aus) & Tristan Schoolkate (Australia) v (5) John Peers (Aus) & Filip Polasek (Svk)
(28) Veronika Kudermetova (Rus) v (5) Maria Sakkari (Gre)
Magda Linette (Pol) & Bernarda Pera (USA) v (4) Samantha Stosur (Aus) & Shuai Zhang (Chn),
(3) Alexander Zverev (Ger) v Radu Albot (Mol)
Latest news
Daniil Medvedev is no stranger to crowd hostility and once again seemed to revel in the role of pantomime villain as he overcame mercurial home favourite Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open on Thursday and took a swipe at the feisty home fans.
At the floodlit Rod Laver Arena, the world number two showed steely resolve and remained calm as a robot in the face of fanatic support for Kyrgios to secure a clinical 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win.
Yet the Russian could not hide his irritation during his on-court interview.
Asked by former champion Jim Courier how he managed to keep his emotions in control, the 25-year-old said he did not have a choice as he was getting booed between his first and second serves.
As Courier started explaining that a few fans were actually imitating Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous “Siuuu!” goal celebration and not booing him, Medvedev lost his calm.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you. Show some respect for Jim Courier. Thank you, guys. Let him speak please,” Medvedev said, addressing the crowd, before writing “siuuuu” on the broadcast camera lens.
“Break point, second serve and people are cheering like you already made a double fault. That’s just disappointing … it’s not everybody who is doing it but those who are doing it probably have a low IQ,” he later told Eurosport.
Medvedev famously got on the wrong side of the crowd at the 2019 US Open, becoming the player the Flushing Meadows fans loved to hate.
His antics at that tournament included angrily snatching a towel from a ballperson in his third round match and showing the crowd his middle finger.
He then sarcastically thanked them, saying, “the energy you’re giving me right now, guys, I think it will be enough for my next five matches”.
Medvedev eventually won back most of the US Open crowd after taking Rafa Nadal to five sets in a pulsating 2019 final and winning the 2021 title at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He will hope he can do something similar at Melbourne Park and improve on his runner-up finish last year.
“People should respect both players,” he told reporters. “It’s not easy to be there when the whole stadium is against you.
“But probably if I will watch it on TV, I’m probably not going to do it tonight but maybe after the tournament … I’m going to be, like, ‘Wow, that’s a great atmosphere for a tennis match’.”
When is the Australian Open?
The tournament got underway on January 17 and concludes with the men’s final on January 30.
Where is the Australian Open?
The Australian Open is taking place at Melbourne Park in Victoria.
