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Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic are settling into their fourth round match on Rod Laver.
Neither player has faced a break point. Gauff is yet to lose any points on her first serve.
Bencic could be seen swapping racquets in the opening minutes of the match, and the change seems to be working well.
The third seeded American currently leads 3-2, with Bencic currently on serve.
No rest on Rod Laver, we’re into our second women’s match of the day.
This time it’s Coco Gauff taking on Belinda Bencic.
Bencic has had an impressive run at the Australian Open so far – her first slam back since having a baby, and just her third tournament back on tour.
Meanwhile, Gauff has been on fire, and is on a collision course to meet Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals next week. But can Bencic stop her today?
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka must have a lunch appointment to get to.
She’s demolished 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, losing only three games in what ended up as a one hour and two minute match.
The world No.1 was formidable on the court, winning 78 per cent of her first serve points. She broke her opponent four times, also saving three break points of her own.
While glimpses of Andreeva’s trademark gameplay shone through at points, the 14th seed was not performing at her best.
Sabalenka will now progress to the quarter-finals, where she will face the winner of the Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Donna Vekic match.
Why have just two players on court when you can have four? There are plenty of doubles matches happening around Melbourne Park today, perfect for tennis lovers with a ground pass or watching from home.
Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp pulled off an incredible ‘tweener’.Credit: Nine, Australian Open
In the men’s doubles, third seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori have won the first set against Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar of Spain.
Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp from the Netherlands have won a first set tie-break against Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral on John Cain Arena, with the Dutch pair now leading 3-2.
Van de Zandschulp hit one of the shots of the tournament during his match with Alex de Minaur.
And over on Kia Arena, Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse have won the first set of the women’s doubles match against 12th seeds Hanyu Guo and Alexandra Panova, 7-5.
If you want a reminder of why Aryna Sabalenka is a two-time Australian Open champion, you need only to look at her performance this morning.
In just 24 minutes, Sabalenka has taken the first set 6-1 against Mirra Andreeva … yikes
Andreeva doesn’t look settled out there, and is struggling with her serve. Sabalenka is winning 86 per cent of points on her first serve, and an impressive 80 per cent off her second.
Andreeva returns a shot. Credit: AP
Aryna Sabalenka is showing no mercy out on Rod Laver Arena this morning, with a 4-1 lead over Mirra Andreeva in the first set after 15 minutes on court.
Andreeva started the match strong, but the power of the Sabalenka’s return, and serve, has drawn errors from the teenagers game.
The Belarusian world No.1 got the early break and looks a sure thing to take this first set in under half an hour.
Sabalenka has taken the early break.Credit: Getty Images
Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva are warming up on Rod Laver Arena ahead of their fourth round clash.
The defending champion won the toss, and elected to serve. She’s definitely the favourite, but could the teem 14th seed pull off an upset?
The stands aren’t quite full yet, so expect more people to filter in throughout the match.
The second week of tennis has kicked off at Melbourne Park – with doubles and junior matches on court first.
It’s nation versus nation on John Cain Arena, with the Dutch partnership of Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp taking on Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral of Portugal.
Meanwhile, the women’s doubles are starting on Kia Arena, which features 17th singles seed Marta Kostyuk. She fell to Paula Badosa in the third round in the singles draw on Friday.
There are also four Australian juniors on the outdoor courts.
Keep an eye out for the first singles match, which starts on Rod Laver Arena at 11.30am.
Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva will open Rod Laver Arena at 11:30am this morning, and that match is sure to be a spectacle.
Sabalenka is the two-time Australian Open champion, while Andreeva is the 17-year-old wonder kid.
The Belarusian world No. 1 is obviously the favourite today, there’s no doubt about that, but fun fact, the one and only time these two have played at a grand slam, Andreeva walked away victorious.
That was in the quarter-finals at the 2024 French Open, where Andreeva beat Sabalenka 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4.
Obviously, that tournament was on clay, and Sabalenka has beaten Andreeva every other time they’ve played – most recently in the semi-finals at the Brisbane International – but she certainly won’t roll over today. We’re in for a fight.
Massive crowds have made the trek down to Melbourne Park so far for this tournament – plenty of records were set in the first week.
Take a look at how many visitors have come through the gates across each day and night session.
- Day one: 81,699
- Day two: 95,290 (AO first Monday record)*
- Day three: 90,102 (AO first Tuesday record)
- Day four: 86,098 (AO first Wednesday record)
- Day five: 95,881 (AO first Thursday record)*
- Day six: 97,132 (AO daily attendance record)
- Day seven: 90,271
Rod Laver Arena during the first week of the 2025 tournament. Credit: Eddie Jim
That puts the total number of visitors during the week at 636,473, with a new daily record being surpassed on three different days across the week.
The previous one-day high was 94,854, achieved in 2023.
(* – broke the daily attendance record at the time of calculation.)
