Australian Open 2021 day seven: Williams v Sabalenka, Thiem v Dimitrov in action and more – live!





02:34





02:15

Naomi Osaka beats Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

Updated





02:09





01:52

Preamble

Good afternoon to you and welcome to live coverage of day seven of the Australian Open. Covid-19 already has Victoria in lockdown and crowds banned from attending Melbourne Park, and the virus has again threatened to overshadow actual tennis following news overnight that Greek player Michail Pervolarakis tested positive for in South Africa, after departing Australia on 9 February. Tennis Australia, Craig Tiley, has said the tournament will continue as normal.

And so we embark on another blockbuster day that is actually already under way. A tiny bit of an upset has just occurred on Rod Laver Arena as Naomi Osaka has just levelled the third set against Garbine Muguruza. Muguruza led 6-4, 4-6, 5-3 and when the reigning US Open champion saved two match points. In the following game Osaka earned and failed to convert two break points herself as Muguruza served for the match before capitalising on her advantage in the longest rally of the day. We’ll keep you updated on that.

In case you missed yesterday’s results, Ash Barty shrugged off injury worries to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-4 and Rafael Nadal saw off a dogged Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-2, 7-5. Meanwhile, Jonathan Howcroft asks whether hotel quarantine has really had an effect on player performance.

Updated

source: theguardian.com