Australian Open: Kyrgios in action, Zverev and Muguruza through – live!

Sascha Zverev is into the second week of a slam without dropping a single set. Considering he is well known for dragging himself into unnecessarily long 5 set matches, this is very notable.

After his horrific first week of the year at the ATP Cup, in which he lost three matches and served dozens of double faults, nobody is really talking about Zverev despite the fact that he is clearly playing well. He will face the in-form Andrey Rublev in the fourth round and we’ll know just how well he is playing if he can come through that tricky encounter.

Finally, Khachanov is stepping up and showing what he can do. Out of nowhere the Russian has won three games in a row, including a run of 11 points of 12 to move up 5-4* in the third.

Although the Aussie finished with a clownish drop shot into the net, Khachanov broke with an exceptional return game. He crushed a backhand down the line winner, struck a lovely a drop shot winner and then he sent backhand return flying past Kyrgios. Great work.

Nick Kyrgios is inching closer to the fourth round. He consolidated the break with a vicious 155kmh forehand down-the-line winner followed by a service winner to hold. Khachanov then threw down a love hold of his own for 6-2 7-6(5) *4-3. Two games away.

Nick Kyrgios breaks serve in the third set to move ahead 6-2 7-6(5) *3-2. More accurately, Khachanov just broke himself. A horrendous game from the Russian filled with errors. At 0-30, he shanked a routine backhand wide to give up three break points and then he served his second double fault of the game to hand it over on a platter.

One more comment on that violent performance from Garbiñe Muguruza:

Muguruza finished with 84% (21/25) first serves won. 31 winners and 9 unforced errors. 87% (14/16) net points won. 53% receiving points won.

In the second set, poor Svitolina hit 10 winners and 8 unforced errors with 72% first serves in. She won two games.

Other scores:

7th seed Alexander Zverev leads Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-2 2-3 on Margaret Court Arena.

4th seed Daniil Medvedev and Alexei Popyrin are just getting started on Rod Laver Arena. The Aussie leads 1-0*.

Nick Kyrigos takes an impressive 6-2 7-6(5) lead on Karen Khachanov. In a tiebreak filled with great serving and vicious third shots behind the serve, the outcome was defined by two points: A delicate drop shot from Kyrgios behind his serve at 4-4 and then a long point at 5-5 where Kyrgios remained calm, moved Khachanov from side to side and drew out the error.

Kyrgios closed it out with a booming unreturned serve. Extremely mature play from the Aussie to move to within a set of Rafael Nadal.

With a 115mph ace out wide, Khachanov sends the second set into a tiebreak with a love hold. The Russian cannot afford to lose this.

Nick Kyrgios slams down a couple of huge serves to secure his 10th consecutive point on serve, moving ahead 6-2 6-5*. Khachanov will serve for a second set tiebreak.

2019 was a tough, tough year for Muguruza as she fell out of the top 30 and played far below the standard set in her rise to number one and two slam titles. At the end of the season, she split with her coach and hired Conchita Martinez. Here she has announced her arrival in the season with an astonishing performance.

Needless to say, she is a contender for this title. The eternal question with Muguruza is whether she can sustain this level consistently. History tells us that she could destroy the field en route to her third slam title or she could hit 90 errors in the next round and lose badly. Who knows?

Over on Melbourne Arena, Khachanov’s level has risen significantly but the set is still on serve. Kyrgios leads 6-2 4-3*.

Elina Svitolina’s epic hold turned out to just be a brief distraction. Muguruza immediately returned to hitting winners at will, easing through another hold before breaking with another absurd flurry of winners.

Some stats: Muguruza is currently on 28 winners and 8 unforced errors (she had 4 errors until 6-2 3-1). She has won 90% of first serve points (19/21). She is on 87% for net points (13/15). She has captured 54% (28/52) of return points. This may just be the performance of the week. 6-1 5-2.

Elina Svitolina hasn’t been able to do much today because she has simply been hit off the court, but she just pulled out an astonishing hold. In an endless deuce game at 6-1 3-1, Muguruza generated 5 break points. Svitolina saved the break points with 2 backhand winners, 2 forehand winners and 1 point ending forehand. She is far from the biggest hitter, but with her back to the wall she hit out like her life depended on it.

This level from Garbine Muguruza is quite incredible. She nabbed the first break at 1-1 with a touch of pure genius, dinking a delicate defensive lob over Svitolina’s head during a long point before eventually finishing with an even lovelier dropshot winner. She is now prowling at 6-1 3-1*, pounding the ball and looking for a second break.

Nick Kyrgios saves break point to hold for 6-2 2-1*. That was Khachanov’s first proper assault on Kyrgios’ serve, taking advantage of a couple of missed first serves to generate his first break point at 30-40.

How did Kyrgios respond? He threw in a serve and volley, producing two sweet backhand volleys to scupper the break point. With some great serving, he pulled out a really good hold.

One of the most impressive things about Garbine Muguruza’s game is her constant willingness to move forward to the net and finish points in the forecourt. This is an era where most players only go to the net to shake hands and she is far from a natural at the net, but she always puts herself in the position to make volleys and she is often successful there. She just hit an absolutely gorgeous drop volley to hold for 6-1 1-1*.

Nick Kyrgios is flowing right now. With a lovely drop shot to lob combination followed by a blinding ace down the T, Kyrgios holds for 6-2 1-0*. This match could get away from Khachanov very quickly if he isn’t careful here.

Nick Kyrgios nabs a second break to take the first set 6-2 on Karen Khachanov. Kyrgios may still be wincing and walking gingerly between points, but after the medical timeout, he was consistent and he moved pretty well as he soaked up Khachanov’s immense pace.

Across the net, Khachanov’s rhythm may have been arrested by the injury break but he is just making life hard for himself in general. Too many wild unforced errors today and his level in the first set wasn’t good enough.

Alexander Zverev is also cruising. He leads Fernando Verdasco *4-1 with a double break.

Over on Rod Laver Arena, the big question was going into this match was what level Muguruza is currently playing at. It’s fair to say that the level is fairly high! She just completely obliterated the fifth seed Svitolina 6-1 in the opening set. The Spaniard lost only 1 point on her first serve, crushing 11 winners with only 3(!) unforced errors. She has been relentlessly aggressive, smashing her backhand and moving into the net whenever she can.

It is pleasing to see Muguruza looking like the two-time slam champion and world number one she is.

Nick Kyrgios grinds out a hold to consolidate his break for 5-2*, but he has called the trainer and is struggling with his left hamstring. The Australian was grimacing and looked far more preoccupied with his hamstring as he was dragged to deuce. With a burst of energy he spectacularly salvaged the service game, crushing a brilliant running crosscourt forehand at deuce and then dismounting with a slick angled dropshot.

The trainer is on and he is now having a medical timeout.

Nick Kyrgios makes the first move on Melbourne Arena, breaking Khachanov for *4-2. Sloppy play from the Russian who dumped a forehand into the net at deuce. The break point was a long, cagey and slow rally until Kyrgios changed it up with a drop shot. The drop shot wasn’t great, but the Russian chased it down and sent his backhand well long.

John Isner retires down 6-4 *4-1 to Stan Wawrinka, sending the Swiss through to the fourth round. No confirmation on the injury but Isner was in long discussion with the doctor after falling down a double break.

Nick Kyrgios just smashed down 3 aces to hold for 2-1 in 46 seconds. The crowd is already rowdy, the Aussie’s arm is already firing. We’re in for a good one.

Garbine Muguruza and Elina Svitolina are also starting now. This head-to-head is a lot more extensive, with Svitolina leading 6-4. Muguruza won their last meeting in Wuhan last year, with Svitolina leading 2-1 in 2019.

This match up is also clearer. Muguruza will be the player hitting with more risks, controlling the points and moving forward to finish points as quickly as she can. The big question is how many unforced errors Svitolina’s stellar defence can draw from her.

Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov are on court. They have only faced each other once before, in that infamous Cincinnati match the Russian eventually won 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-2.

It is difficult to take much from that match, except that Khachanov showed impressive focus to see out the win with so many distractions. There is little doubt that this match will rest on who serves best. In the rallies, Kyrgios will look to disrupt Khachanov at every opportunity with his variety and unpredictability. Kyrgios arrives in better form after two solid performances. By contrast, Khachanov barely survived No 78 Mikael Ymer in a final set tiebreak on Thursday. Let’s see.

Over on Court 3, 15th seed Stan Wawrinka is up 5-3* on 19th seed John Isner. There were rumors today that Wawrinka would under the weather but so far so good for the Swiss.

So what has happened so far today? The women have continued yesterday’s run of top 10 defeats with two further top 10 upsets. 2nd seed Karolina Pliskova was ousted 7-6(4) 7-6(3) by the talented and seasoned Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 30th. 6th seed Belinda Bencic, who memorably reached the US Open semis last year after upsetting defending champion Naomi Osaka, was destroyed by a zoning Anett Kontaveit 6-0 6-1 in just 49 minutes. Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber had no such problems and happily moved into the fourth round.

In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal eased past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1 6-2 6-4 and Dominic Thiem came through a potentially tricky four set match against Taylor Fritz of the United States. The in-form Andrey Rublev, seeded 17th, marched on after beating 11th seed David Goffin. 10th seed Gael Monfils saw off Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.

Hello! Welcome to another evening of Australian Open tennis as the final third round matches are completed. Absolutely nothing will come close to the carnage and drama of yesterday’s action, which saw Naomi Osaka fall to 15 year old Coco Gauff, Serena Williams upset by Wang Qiang, Stefanos Tsitsipas thoroughly beaten by Milos Raonic before Roger Federer barely survived a 5th set tiebreak against John Millman. However, there are some very interesting matches in store.

Rod Laver Arena’s night session will begin with a curious battle between 5th seed Elina Svitolina and two-time slam champion Garbine Muguruza. Muguruza is unseeded after a dire 2019 in which her ranking tumbled and she struggled to find any of the form that propelled her to victories at Roland Garros in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017. She starts this year with a new coach, 1994 Wimbledon champ Conchita Martinez, and there have been some encouraging signs. This should reveal a lot about where Muguruza’s game is as she looks to return to the top 20 and beyond.

Daniil Medvedev will follow against young Australian Alexei Popyrin. After 2019 ended with people certain that a new young slam champion would arrive in the new year, the first events of this new season have been a reality check. Medvedev has probably looked the best and he will be looking to continue his momentum and put himself in the position to compete for the title. Popyrin will have the opportunity to test out his game against a top player and in front of a home crowd. He should relish it.

On Margaret Court Arena, 7th seed Alexander Zverev will face 2009 semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco and he will be looking to gain some momentum after a positive first few rounds in Melbourne. 9th seed and perennial dark horse Kiki Bertens will follow against Zarina Diyas.

And then there is Melbourne Arena, where Nick Kyrgios returns to his favourite court for a match against Karen Khachanov of Russia. This is, of course, a rematch of that match in Cincinnati that lead to Kyrgios being put on probation. But Kyrgios is playing well in Melbourne and he looks comfortable. The Australian has reached only one slam fourth round since 2016 and this seems like a good opportunity to do so again. Let’s see.