Australian Open results: Nick Kyrgios slams Novak Djokovic ‘ridiculousness’

Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has been triggered after a moment in Novak Djokovic’s third round clash at the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios wasn't happy. Photo: Getty Images

And just like that there’s just one Aussie left in the Australian Open after Storm Hunter’s run came to an end in three-set heartbreaker on Friday night.

Alex de Minaur secured his place in the round of 16 with a straight sets win over world No. 100 Flavio Cobolli but Hunter couldn’t follow suit in a tough 4-6 7-5 6-3 loss to ninth seed and 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.

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Hunter had never previously won a match at the Australian Open but showed she belonged in the top-flight of women’s singles with her impressive performance.

De Minaur is the last Australian left. Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Storm Hunter was so close. Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP

On the other end of the spectrum of Australian Open wins, Novak Djokovic shrugged off a difficult opening two rounds to blowing away 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3 6-3 7-6 in a one-sided beat down on Rod Laver Arena.

While the commentators believed he was still a bit sluggish getting around the court due to his much publicised cold, it didn’t stop him.

Neither could the umpire.

Nick Kyrgios took aim at the umpire during Djokovic’s third round clash after the World No. 1 was called for a time violation.

Players have 25 seconds between points to begin their service motion but early in the third set, the umpire called out the Serbian star, despite him seemingly entering his service motion.

Kyrgios, who has been continuing his bromance with Djokovic from the commentary box, took aim at the call.

“Not necessary, ridiculous, just ridiculousness,” Kyrgios said for Eurosport.

“It’s like they get bored and just want to say something instead of the score … ridiculous.”

"Not necessary... it's like they get bored!" ❌

Nick Kyrgios slams the umpire for giving Novak Djokovic a time violation ⏱#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/OWiu1q2vUE

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 19, 2024

While Djokovic wasn’t happy, he followed it up with a big serve to claim the point.

And while the third set went to a tie-break, Djokovic was dominant, running away to a comfortable 7-2 finish to continue his push for an 11th Australian Open title.

He will play 20th seed Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who, playing in his third straight five set thriller, knocked out 16th seed Ben Shelton.

It denies tennis fans a repeat of the US Open grudge match after Djokovic hung up the phone on the youngster before having some strong words in the ensuing press conference.

Nick Kyrgios wasn't happy. Photo: Getty Images

De Minaur, who became the first Aussie man since Lleyton Hewitt to make three consecutive fourth rounds, will face fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the next round after an impressive serving performance made short work of 29th seed Sebastian Korda.

Earlier, the big name men’s seeds went through fairly unscathed with No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 4 Jannik Sinner, No. 15 Karen Khachanov and No. 12 Taylor Fritz all moved into the round of 16.

In the women’s, 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia joined the seeded wasteland, knocked out by Maria Timofeeva, who had never before played a player in the top 50, let alone beaten someone in the top 10.

Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko was the only other seeded player ousted, but she was blown off the court by world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in a 6-0 6-0, the first time since Ash Barty back in 2021.

Day 7 action starts at 11am.

Australian Open Day 6 results

Rod Laver Arena from 12pm (AEDT)

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [2] defeated Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) [28] 6-0, 6-0

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [7] defeated Luca Van Assche (ITA) 6-3, 6-0, 6-4

From 7pm

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) [30]

Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) [9] defeated Storm Hunter (AUS) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3

Margaret Court Arena from 12pm

Jannik Sinner (ITA) [4] defeated Sebastian Baez (ARG) [26] 6-0, 6-1, 6-3

Coco Gauff (USA) [4] defeated Alycia Parks (USA) 6-0, 6-2

From 7pm

Maria Timofeeva (RUS) defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) [10] 7-6, 6-3

Andrey Rublev (RUS) [5] defeated Sebastian Korda (USA) [29] 6-2, 7-6, 6-4

John Cain Arena from 11am

Amanda Anisimova (USA) defeated Paula Badosa (ESP) 7-5, 6-4

Taylor Fritz (USA) [12] defeated Fabian Marozsan (HUN) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

From 7pm

Alex de Minaur (AUS) [10] defeated Flavio Cobolli (ITA) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

11.44pm — De Minaur 4th round opponent’s flex

Fifth seed Andrey Rublev is into the fourth round to play Aussie men’s hope Alex de Minaur after a crushing 6-2 7-6 6-3 win over 29th seed Sebastian Korda.

Rublev struggled in his opening round clash, barely making it past Thiago Seyboth Wild, but has since had little issues.

Knocking out Americans Chris Eubanks and now Korda, Rublev has now found his form with 10th seed and last Aussie men’s hope de Minaur waiting in the next round.

For the record, de Minaur has a 3-2 lead over the Russian in the career head-to-head although Rublev won the last clash between them at the Paris Masters in November.

Rublev’s first serve was on fire, hitting 74 per cent of his big serves and barely letting the American into the match.

It was a tough night for the Americans with 16th seed Ben Shelton also knocked out by 20th seed Adrian Mannarino in a 7-6 1-6 6-7 6-3 6-4 result earlier in the night session.

9.26pm – Alex de Minaur into the round of 16

Demon’s on fire. Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP

Australia’s last men’s hope Alex de Minaur is into the round of 16 and if that performance shows anything, he’s nowhere near done yet.

De Minaur showed World No. 100 Flavio Cobolli exactly what it means to play a top 10 star as the Aussie was ruthless.

De Minaur barely raised a sweat as he returned to the final 16 for the third straight year, dominating his Italian rival 6-3 6-3 6-1.

De Minaur will play either 29th seed Sebastian Korda or 5th seed Andrey Rublev, with the pair set to clash next on Margaret Court Arena.

Speaking on court after the match, Jim Courier went to ask who he’d prefer to play, before retracting the question and instead asking De Minaur about his chances of making the quarters for the first time.

“I’ve got to back myself, I’ve got to believe, I’ve got to play positive tennis the way I have this whole year,” De Minaur said.

“I know the crowd will be behind me and I’ll enjoy every moment of it.”

The deepest de Minaur has been in an Australian Open is the fourth round, while the deepest he’s ever gone in a grand slam is the quarters at the 2020 US Open.

If he makes the quarter-finals, De Minaur will face either fourth seed Jannik Sinner or 15th seed Karen Khachanov, ahead of a possible semi-final match up with Novak Djokovic.

8.53pm – Tenth seed rampages on

Alex de Minaur is a set from booking his place in the third round and a clash with either 29th seed Sebastian Korda or 5th seed Andrey Rublev.

De Minaur has taken a 6-3 6-3 lead over World No. 100 Flavio Cobolli claiming early breaks and staving off six break points in the second set.

Incredibly, Novak Djokovic is also up 6-3 6-3 in his clash against 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

8.13pm – De Minaur breaks

The last Aussie men’s hope is off to a strong start against Flavio Cobolli, breaking in the sixth game of the first set.

De Minaur had had a tough first round against Milos Raonic before bouncing back to his best with a straight sets win in the second round.

Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come and Demon can get in and out and rest up before a potential fourth round clash on Monday.

While that first break didn’t last long, another break meant de Minaur wrapped up the first set 6-3.

Coincidentally over on Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic did the same, taking the first set of his match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3.

7.15pm – Great Aussie hope gets underway

Alex de Minaur has begun his third round clash against 21-year-old Italian Flavio Cobolli.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has begun his match against Tomás Martín Etcheverry on Rod Laver Arena.

Stay tuned for all the updates.

6.30pm – Murray leaps to Andreeva’s defence

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray has taken a swipe at Australian Open commentators, who claimed Mirra Andreeva was “too hard on herself” when she was down 5-1 in the deciding set against Diane Parry.

The young Russian phenom stunned the crowd with a massive resurgence to take the match to a tie-break, which the 16-year-old eventually won 10-5 to advance to the fourth round for the first time in her career.

Andy Murray was a bit disappointed in the commentators’ assumptions of Mirra Andreeva.

Murray said players who are perceived to be “too hard on themselves” are sometimes given an unfair representation by commentators.

“Andreeva down 5-1 in third. Commentator ‘she really needs to work on mental side of her game… she’s too hard on herself when she’s losing’,” he tweeted after the match.

“30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.

“Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength. Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner.”

Andreeva down 5-1 in third. Commentator “she really needs to work on mental side of her game.. she’s too hard on herself when she’s losing”
30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.
Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength. Maybe she turned the…

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) January 19, 2024

Andreeva, a big fan of the British tennis legend, was humbled by Murray’s tweet.

“Honestly I didn’t really think that he would watch the match, then after he would tweet, he would comment something. Honestly, I will try to print it out somehow. I will put it in a frame. I will bring it everywhere with me. I will maybe put it on the wall so I can see it every day,” she told the media at the post-match press conference.

5.50pm – K-Pop takes the first set

There’s already been discussion about what we’re naming Australia’s men’s duo Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexei Alex Popyrin.

Poppy Kokk has been floated, but K-Pop might be a bit cleaner.

Either way, the pair have done well in their opening set against Andreas Mies and John-Patrick Smith. The match was neck and neck with neither pair getting an upper hand until the seven-point tie-break, where K-Pop pulled off a crucial point to inch themselves ahead.

They are the main focus for Aussie fans this afternoon before Alex de Minaur takes on Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli at John Cain Arena at 7pm.

Mies and Smith responded well in the second set, taking the fight back to K-Pop and evening the scales with 6-4.

4.11pm – 16yo Russian pulls off incredible comeback

Mirra Andreeva is having a brilliant tournament.

Mirra Andreeva has put up the fight of her life against Diane Parry for a spot in the fourth round. The 16-year-old Russian dropped the first set 1-6 but roared back in the second to get a quick double break to take it 6-1.

It looked like the match was getting away from her as Parry got an early lead in the deciding set, but Andreeva wasn’t done yet. She secured a crucial break point when Parry had a chance to serve for the match at 5-4.

Parry was frustrated at losing the opportunity and threw her racquet to the ground.

Andreeva took advantage of her break and held serve to bring it to 5-5. Parry was clearly fuming at herself as she dropped another game, allowing Andreeva an opportunity to serve for the match at 6-5.

But Parry broke back, bringing the match to a deciding 10-point tie-break.

From there, Parry made more unforced errors and allowed Andreeva take the tie-break 10-5 for a spot in the final 16.

Mirra Andreeva comes back from 1-5 to get back on serve at 4-5.

Phenomenal point.

Cheeky drop shot to finish it off.

Insane mental toughness from Mirra. ❤️

pic.twitter.com/RO1t9u2Fw5

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 19, 2024

4pm – Tsitsipas is through

Stefanos Tsitsipas has booked a spot in the fourth round, smashing 19-year-old Luca Van Assche in straight sets 6-3 6-0 6-4.

There is a lot of expectation on the Greek star, who made it to the final last year, to go deep in 2024. Nick Kyrgios has tipped him to reign supreme, but he’s still got a way to go yet.

He is set to play US World No. 12 Taylor Fritz for a spot in the quarterfinals.

3.29pm – Coco Gauff advances

Coco Gauff has booked her spot in the round of 16 with a commanding win over fellow US player Alycia Parks.

The 19-year-old barely looked troubled as she took the match 6-0 6-2.

She will face the winner of the third round clash between Magdalena Frech and Anastasia Zakharova.

2pm – Jim Courier roasts Jannik Sinner

Jim Courier has put Italian superstar Jannik Sinner under more pressure than he’s been under all tournament in his post-match interview, probing him over his tennis racquet and his famous beanpole physique.

“You said you kinda wish you had a Baywatch body … The sound that comes off the racquet is really strong. If it’s not the muscle it must be the racquet. The racquet pretty good?” Courier said, getting a nod from the 22-year-old World No. 4.

“Could you take me through what this equipment is? It’s gotta be the racquet. With Michael Jordan it’s the shoes. With you it’s the racquet, right? Standard tennis racquets are 27 inches long. Is this a normal racquet? Or do you customise it?”

Sinner replied: “Secrets guys. Honestly many players ask me what racquet I play with. I think it’s a really normal racquet … to be honest. Honestly, if I’m honest with you …

“You keep saying ‘honest’ which tells me you’re lying. Come clean man,” Courier joked.

“I don’t really know the stats of the racquets … to be honest,” Sinner said.

Jim Courier put Jannik Sinner on the spot in their post-match interview.

Sinner has earned serious praise on tour, being labelled by Nick Kyrgios as the cleanest ball striker going around.

He said it could be down to his racquet, which is strung at 28kg tension as opposed to the average 24kg.

Whatever it is, it’s working.

He hasn’t dropped a set so far in the tournament and advances through to the round of 16 after downing Sebastian Baez 6-0 6-1 6-3 this afternoon.

1.10pm – Sabalenka’s near-perfect match

Aryna Sabalenka has notched her first 6-0 6-0 win of her career at WTA level, completely demolishing Lesia Tsurenko to advance to the round of 16.

The World No. 2 and defending Aus Open champion is the first to achieve the feat since Ash Barty in 2021. Barty dropped just 10 points for the entire match at the time, sending Danka Kovinic tumbling out of the first round.

Sabalenka has enjoyed a stellar run in 2024, dropping just six games in three matches so far at Melbourne Park.

She was 6-0 5-0 up before Ella Seidel finally took a game off her in their first-round match.

Courtside interviewer Andrea Petkovic said Sabalenka has been “sucking the life out” of her opponents this week.

“Last year Iga (Swiatek) won so many sets 6-0 and this is one of the goals, try to get closer to her,” Sabalenka said.

“I’m just super happy with the level I’m playing so far and hopefully I can keep going like that, or even better.”

World No. 2 and defending Aus Open champion Aryna Sabalenka is the first to achieve the feat since Ash Barty in 2021.

12.29pm – Sinner showing his class

World No. 4 Jannik Sinner is showing his form again at Melbourne Park this afternoon, snagging the first two sets against World No. 26 Sebastian Baez.

The Italian youngster fended off an early break point against the Argentine to take the first set to 3-0 in the first 20 minutes.

He went on to take the first set 6-0 and broke Baez again early in the second, hitting a glorious crosscourt forehand winner at deuce.

11am – Tensions threaten to explode in grudge match

All eyes will be locked into the opening encounter on Rod Laver Arena on day six as tensions threaten to explode.

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka is set to take on Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko with the meeting the first since they were scheduled to square off at Indian Wells.

Tsurenko withdrew from that contest only moments prior to it getting underway with the Ukrainian revealing she had suffered a panic attack.

The catalyst for the attack was in relation to comments made by WTA CEO Steve Simon when he said Russian and Belarusian players would likely be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I was absolutely shocked by what I heard,” Tsurenko told Big Tennis Ukraine following her withdrawal.

Tensions threaten to explode at Aus Open

“He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if the players from Russia and Belarus support it, then this is only their own opinion and the opinion of other people should not upset me.

“At the same time, he noted that if this had happened to him and he had been in my place he would have felt terrible.

“In addition, he expressed confidence that the Russians and Belarussians will return to the Olympics and said that this will happen exactly as it is happening now in tennis.

“When asked if he understood that he was telling me this during the active phase of Russian military aggression in my country, he said that yes, and this was his opinion.”

Sabalenka said in the wake of the withdrawal that the WTA had done a great job in supporting both sides.

She later admitted that tensions had spilt into the locker rooms.

“It was really, really tough for me because I’ve never faced that much hate in the locker room,” she said ahead of the Miami Open.

“I had some, not like fights, but I had some weird conversations with, not the girls, but with members of their team.

“It was really, it was tough. It was a tough period. But now it’s getting better.”