Key events
And a double, the second of the match, delivers the set. De Minaur leads Medjedovic 2-1 while, at 7, Norrie lands two big serves to lead Nava 6-3 at the break of the fourth set, meaning she has three match points.
Paolini breaks Frech to take a 5-1 lead in the first set; At 5-2 and 15-40, De Minaur has two set points for a 2-1 lead against Medjedovic.
Meanwhile, Zverev breaks Muller early in the fourth set.r and a hold each on Laver means Medjedovic must now serve to stay in the third set trailing 2-5. On court 7, Nava and Norrie are pregnant.
Our players are back on the outside courts, It’s not ready to resume yet, but it’s not far away.
Ha! Hahaha @yo! After losing eight games in a row, Medjedovic hits a forehand winner down the line to break De Minaur and although the set might have been lost, he will feel like he is back in the match. There are no tanks here!
Not hard enough though. A forehand into the net means Zverev holds, securing a 6-3 third set and a 2-1 lead.
On the court, Tiiafoe took the first set against Comesana, 6-4, while against Cain, Zverev serves for 2-1 and 5-3; Muller, however, is fighting hard.
In fact, Medjedovic had a break point at 2-2 in the second, couldn’t convert, and hasn’t won a game since. But just when it looks likely to hold, De Mianur forces a way to double and breaks it again, a ridiculous recovery that ultimately forces the error. He leads 4-0 in the second and my best guess is that we will now see a tank in the hope of a rebound in the fourth set.
Zverev makes it 1-1, 5-2 and De Minaur makes it 1-1, 3-0. the class takes over in both cases. Obviously, the best players have higher levels than most, but the difference here is the ability to maintain a good level during a long match: De Minaur is not playing much better than he started, Medjedovic is simply playing worse.
We are back up and running in all our indoor courts, The rest are not far behind.
Yes, I’m afraid Medjedovic is gone. From 15 to 40, he makes two, but bets too much on the second serve and then, during an incredible break point, somehow blocks an aerial attack, only to score a lazy backhand. Demon leads 1-1 2-0.
We continue with Laver, De Minaur serves in the first game of the third set and quickly achieves a blank serve. Medjedovic could have benefited from the break because the match, although level, was getting away from him, but after having lost five games in a row, he urgently needs to serve in the next one.
At Laver, our players are back and warming up, with the roof down. That’s not the case elsewhere, but it won’t be long.
My old C fails (there is one for the Great Expectations firm) but we are back and we are not far from a resumption.
The cleaning operation is underway, which tells us that the rain has stopped. I guess we’ll be up and running again in about 15 minutes, confirmation will come when I receive it.
Zverev broke Muller’s serve in the third set to lead 1-1, 4-2; Paolini leads France 4-1; Tiafoe and Comesana draw 2-2; and Muchova leads Parks 4-2 in the third.
They don’t think it will take long, but for now it is going down a lot, so let’s go through the fields.
Back with Norrie, he and Nava are playing a tiebreaker in the fourth set. during which I hope he scores again. He gets a mini-break to make it 4-3, but as soon as he hits the air, three points from victory, the rain starts to hit.
I wonder how Demon feels about himself. His interview after losing to Musetti in the ATP final was difficult to watch and perfectly summed up the agony of being brilliant but not bright enough.
But then he beat Taylor Fritz, giving himself perspective.
Only to lose to Sinner, like he always does. I remember Andy Murray saying that after losing the 2012 Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, he had to process the prospect of never winning a major, which is not easy to do. In the event, he later won Olympic gold and the US Open, but that route does not seem open to De Minaur, who does not have the weapons to beat the most powerful men on the biggest stages.
De Minaur backs up his break and then runs to 0-40 and three set points, caressing a glorious return from far away from the tram lines. Once again, however, Medjedovic’s serve gets him out of some trouble, but at 30-40, he lands a wide forehand and we’re tied at one set apiece.
Moving through the courts, Zverev just broke Muller to lead 1-1, 3-1; Paolini leads France 2-1 on serve; Norrie leads Nava 6-1 7-6 4-6 5-4, on serve; Muchova leads Parks 3-1 in third; and Comesana won the first match against Tiafoe.
De Minaur gets another break point. but Medjedovic’s forehand is a shot, and he unleashes it to restore the deuce… only to score one on the next lead. The crowd goes wild and he leads 7-6 2-4, but is this the beginning of the end?
De Minaur hasn’t had many chances so far, but Medjedovic gets involved in the aggro with his box earning his own break chance, serving in the next game, a double takes him down 0-40. Then he responds with a second serve ace, then a second serve winner, then a big serve and a cleanup volley. That’s outstanding performance, but Demon restores the deuce in what could be a crucial game: if Medjedovic pulls it off, he’ll be here for a long time, but if he doesn’t, it could be a turning point.
Excellent shot from Muller, serving at 3-6, 5-4, saves the break point and closes the set from there! There are six games out of seven, and third place is in one game.
Muchova has set off, coming back to force a decider against Parks, and she leads 2-0 in the third, while Norrie just blew a break point opportunity (and has had a few in this series) up 2-1, 3-3 against Nava.
Next on Laver: Francis Tiafoe (29) against Francisco Comesana. I’m not going to watch that one though; I’m moving Medjedovic 7-6 1-2 De Minaur to my main screen, moving Zverev back from the phone to the laptop and replacing him with Frech v Paolini.
I said before that Zverev had replaced Muller, prepare a set and a break. Well, Muller now leads 5-3 in the second, the match ended changed.
Andreeva is happy. When she saw the draw she thought “Wow!”, two really good and aggressive players, but it helps that she didn’t have time to adapt to the tournament and had to be focused from the beginning.
He likes the pressure of having won Adelaide and although the conditions are windier in Melbourne he has match pace which is good.
His relationship with Conchita Martínez, his coach, is a lot of fun: Martínez knows he has a gem and seems to be doing a very good job of balancing the seriousness of elite sport with adolescent frivolity.
Mirra Andreeva (8) defeats Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-4
Two serious opponents, two victories. Andreeva has been far from perfect and in this form does not seem ready to contest the final stages, but she is in the third round where she will meet Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Andreeva reaches 40-30, and here comes the match point…