The Daily Serve: All the key moments and highlights of Day 10 from Melbourne Park 

He’s the current Davis Cup captain and is steering Alex de Minaur’s Aus Open campaign, but one Aussie tennis legend believes Lleyton Hewitt could still be playing at the top level.

Dual grand slam champion Pat Rafter says Lleyton Hewitt could still be playing on the tour after the Aussie tennis greats dusted off their racquets for a win in the Legend’s Cup doubles at the Australian Open.

As Rafter joked he would cramp on the walk back to the locker room, he hailed the form of Davis Cup captain, who he said was still playing “unbelievable” tennis.

Rafter and Hewitt won their doubles clash against Tommy Haas and James Blake 6-3 3-6, with the match decided in a 10-point tie-break (10-8).

Hewitt showed he had lost none of his touch, with the former Wimbledon and US Open champion thrilling the crowd with a triple “tweener”.

Hewitt still has it according to Pat Rafter. Picture: Mark Stewart

Two-time US Open champion Rafter admitted he had found the going a little tougher.

“It was actually a lot of hard work and Lleyton did most of it, but it was still a lot of hard work for me,” Rafter said.

“He is playing unbelievable out here, he could be on the tour right now if he wanted to.

“It’s impressive, I’m just sitting here getting a little bit nervous, going ‘Please don’t hit me the ball, hit it to Lleyton’

“Those guys were kind enough to give me a few easy ones, but Lleyton, unreal, he was impressive.”

Asked if he would be jumping in the ice bath for recovery after the match, Rafter joked:

“I’ll probably cramp before I get back to the locker room,” he said.

“Nothing has changed, I’m still sweating like a pig.

“No recovery, I don’t do that sort of crap anymore.”

Referring to the legends’ battle as an “old man’s comp”, Hewitt said he had relished lining up on court alongside his “older brother” Rafter.

“It was a lot of fun. For me, this guy was like an older brother to me when I first came onto the tour and a massive role model,” Hewitt said.

“So to come out here and play in the legend’s event is a lot of fun and something we can get to enjoy, especially in our backyard in Australia.”

ACES

On the surface Paula Badosa’s upset win over third seed Coco Gauff was itself worthy of applause. But the emotion in the Spaniard’s face following her straight-sets victory on Tuesday told a deeper story.

In April 2022, Badosa reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 in the world and everything was going swimmingly. Just over 12 months later she pulled the pin on her season, suffering with stress fractures in her back that doctors later said would likely end her career.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for the 27-year-old ever since, battling her body and rediscovering the self-belief that made her one of the best players on the planet.

Paula Badosa has fought back from the brink. Picture: WILLIAM WEST / AFP

Fast-forward to Tuesday’s quarter-final and perhaps the greatest win of her career against the in-form Gauff, who had been riding a 13-match winning streak dating back to last year’s WTA Finals triumph and was a hot pick to win the title at Melbourne Park.

For the first time in her career Badosa is into the final four at a major and that is just desserts after her years of adversity.

It also means Aussie Alex de Minaur and his fiance Katie Boulter still have a challenger for the title of Aus Open’s tennis power couple.

Badosa and boyfriend, Greek superstar Stefanos Tsitsipas, had a humorous exchange last week when the Spaniard was trailing Marta Kostyuk 5-0 in the second set.

First Grand Slam semifinal, first win against a Top 10 opponent in a Grand Slam - Paula Badosa, this was a lesson in class and conviction 👏👏@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • @paulabadosa • #AO2025pic.twitter.com/O14jgI05KT

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2025

Frustrated with her level, Badosa argued to her players’ box where Tsitsipas – who had been knocked out in the first round – told her to calm down.

That led to Badosa offering Tsitsipas her racquet, as if to say ‘you come and play then’.

Entertainment from all angles from the women’s world No. 12.

FAULTS

It had been smooth sailing for No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev en route to the quarter-finals until it almost all came crashing down in a humorous seventh game of the second set against Tommy Paul.

The fiery German was left fuming when a fan called out during a rally as Zverev had break point on the Paul serve, trailing 4-2 after claiming the first set in a tie-break.

Zverev halted play to argue with the chair umpire: “On break point? F*** me.”

That expletive earned him a warning from the umpire, who was again in the hot seat moments later when, almost comically, a feather fell from the Rod Laver Arena roof and drifted into the German’s eyesight as he played a backhand from the baseline.

Again Zverev stopped play and this time the chair umpire sided with him, calling a let and replaying the point.

Alexander Zverev was not happy after the umpire called a stop to this point due to a rogue feather landing on the court 🦅

↳ Australian Open 2025. Every Match. Ad-free. Centre Court in 4K, on Stan Sport.#StanSportAU#AO2025#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/dQuQMUi3w7

— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) January 21, 2025

All the while a bemused Paul stood at the other end of the court, not sure what to make of the madness.

In the commentary box, Jim Courier said it was “a dangerous precedent to set for the chair umpire” to replay the point.

“But hey, it’s good to see him getting involved now that all the line calls are automated,” Courier added.

“Gives him something to do.”

The explosive moment came after Paul also unloaded at the chair umpire in the first set, when he felt a Zverev serve should have been called a let.

“How are you going to be in charge of the lets, dude? If you don’t hear that one, if you don’t see that one, you’re not going to see any of them,” Paul argued in vain.

Zverev would go on to hold serve and win the first set tie-break in devastating 7-1 fashion.

EYES ON THE GROUND

ANOTHER AWKWARD ON-COURT INTERVIEW STRIKES

Post-match interviews are the talk of Melbourne Park after Novak Djokovic snubbed Jim Courier.

They are on people’s minds and Roger Rasheed would probably not want his chat with Ben Shelton after he defeated Gael Monfils to be examined too closely.

Lleyton Hewitt’s former coach stumbled badly when he was trying to make a gag about how Monfils at the age of 38 was old enough to be the American’s father.

Shelton is 16 years younger than the Frenchman and Rasheed said: “He’s basically your father.”

To which Shelton replied: “Is that a black joke?”

Things got slightly awkward between Ben Shelton and Roger Rasheed. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Cue awkwardness and Rasheed quickly trying to move on.

Later in his press conference Shelton said there was no issue with the interview.

“No, no, the guy just said, ‘He’s old enough to be your dad’,’’ Shelton said.

“Then he made a comment, ‘Oh, maybe he is your dad’. Probably just a stupid comment that I shouldn’t have said but I thought it was funny in the moment.

“I don’t think ... I hope the guy didn’t take it in any sort of way. I know that my dad thought it was pretty funny (smiling). But, yeah, I guess I apologise for that.

“No, I didn’t take it any way. I know he didn’t ... he probably didn’t mean it any way to me. I hope he didn’t mean it in any way like that.

“I guess I probably should keep my mouth shut more.”

He’s not the only one.

DOUBLES PLAYER PRAISED

Tim Puetz has been hailed by fans after he rushed to the aid of a struggling ballboy.

The tennis star was featuring in the Australian Open men’s doubles when he turned hero.

Huge respect to Tim Puetz for helping a ball kid who was struggling with the Melbourne heat 👏💙#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/XM7YTkGdoD

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 20, 2025

Puetz, 37, noticed one of the ballboys struggling in the intense heat on the court at the 1573 Arena.

He ran over to assist and carried him off the court to help while the umpire phoned for assistance.

The German stood by while the boy was given water and attended to on the side of the court.

A clip of the moment has gone viral on social media, with many fans praising his actions.

Originally published as The Daily Serve: All the key moments and highlights of Day 10 from Melbourne Park