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Images from Day 6 of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Vintage Djokovic mangles Machac to reach Melbourne fourth round
Novak Djokovic stepped up a level in his Australian Open third round match against Tomas Machac on Friday, brushing the Czech aside 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 with a vintage performance to reach the second week at Melbourne Park for the 17th time.
The 37-year-old seventh seed conceded sets to younger opponents in the first two rounds but the best world number 25 Muchac could muster up was a single break of serve at the start of the second set.
Djokovic broke straight back, called out the doctor then rattled off the next three games, which included a brilliant point which the Serbian won with a backhand crosscourt winner.
Machac beat the former world number one on clay in Geneva last year but struggled to get his game going on a cool evening on the Rod Laver Arena court where Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles.
The Czech had another look at Djokovic's serve at the end of the second set only for his opponent to quickly shut the door and by the third Machac was getting sympathetic applause from the crowd merely for winning a point.
"I think I played really well, I'm very happy with my game," said Djokovic after bringing an end to the uneven contest with a rasping backhand winner.
"There's always something to improve but this is definitely the best match I've played in the tournament so far."
New coach Andy Murray will have been pleased with a clear step up in the quality of Djokovic's serve and the Serbian also eased concerns about the treatment he received on court at the start of the second set.
"I was trying to catch my breath," Djokovic laughed. "I'm not 19 any more."
The Serbian will meet another Czech in 24th seed Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz looming as his potential opponent in the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz slaps down Borges
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz dropped his first set of the tournament but still safely secured his passage into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over Nuno Borges.
The 21-year-old Spaniard has quietly but authoritatively gone about his business in the first week at Melbourne as teenagers ousted seeds, Jannik Sinner progressed in his title defence and Novak Djokovic in his quest for a 25th major crown.
Two conversions from four break points were enough for him to take the first set, one from one handed him the second, before the experienced Portuguese number one snatched the momentum back at the end of the third.
Borges blew one set point at 6-5 by going long with a return but made no mistake in the tiebreak to claim the set and leave Alcaraz seething in his chair.
The four-times Grand Slam champion came out in the fourth set like a man on a mission, breaking at the first opportunity for 2-0 with a spectacular over-the-shoulder pass from the back of the court.
A huge roar of "Vamos!" echoed over the sunbathed Rod Laver Arena and from that point Alcaraz's place in the fourth round for the 11th time in 16 Grand Slam campaigns looked assured.
The remainder of the set from Alcaraz was venomous serving, a few sumptuous drop shots and the customary barrage of forehand winners, the 35th of which brought up match point after just under three hours on court.
"I missed Rod Laver Arena," Alcaraz said after the world number 33 had dumped the final shot of the match into the net.
"I'm just really happy to be able to play here once again and show my best tennis here. It's been a pleasure whenever I step on this court, it's a beautiful court. The last time I played here, I lost so I really wanted a win here."
Alcaraz will next face Britain's Jack Draper or local hopeful Aleks Vukic in the fourth round on Sunday.
He already has two Wimbledon crowns and one title each at the US and French Open so the Australian Open, where his best result was his quarter-final appearance last year, would count as his least successful Grand Slam.
Tattoos commemorate his triumphs at the other three majors and Alcaraz confirmed he has plans for a bit more ink if he wins the title in Melbourne.
"It'll be a kangaroo," he said on court to cheers from the crowd.
Ice-cool Sinner subdues wildcard Schoolkate
Defending champion Jannik Sinner had his feathers ruffled early on by local wildcard Tristan Schoolkate on Thursday before recovering his ice-cool composure to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 win.
World number one Sinner had won 30 of his last 31 matches going into the contest and had not given up a set in 15 matches since his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing last October.
Western Australian Schoolkate ended the latter streak inside 47 minutes by converting the only break point of the opening stanza to the delight of a big crowd basking in the evening sun on Rod Laver Arena.
The Italian continued to struggle to get a handle on Schoolkate's game early in the second set but a rasping crosscourt winner earned him a break for 4-3 and from then on the match was only going one way.
"It's always tough to play against a player I have never played before, he was playing really good at the start, serving really well," said top seed Sinner.
"I have to be very pleased with my performance, never take anything for granted, and I'm really happy to be in the next round. I can improve, yes, but I'll take it."
Next up for Sinner as he looks to build on his hardcourt Grand Slam titles in Melbourne and New York last year is American world number 46 Marcos Giron.
Sinner might be a little concerned at his unusually high tally of 29 unforced errors but world number 173 Schoolkate should take some credit for the pressure he was able to put on his fellow 23-year-old.
The Australian's top serve speed of 210 kph outpaced the best Sinner was able to summon up and he was always a threat with his forays into serve-volley.
The key to Grand Slam tennis is being able to produce your best consistently over the match, however, and by the end of the two hours and 46 minutes contest, Schoolkate was only able to produce brief glimpses of his earlier high level.
Sinner, meanwhile, continued to bang down the accurate serves and clean winners from both wings until his 20th straight win over Australian opposition was assured, sealing the deal with a huge forehand for his 42nd winner.
Bencic through after Osaka retires with injury
Swiss Belinda Bencic advanced to the last 16 of the Australian Open after two-time champion Naomi Osaka retired during Friday's third-round match with an injury.
Bencic took the first set in a tiebreak 7-6(3) before Japan's Osaka, who had also pulled out of the Auckland final earlier this month due to an abdominal injury, withdrew from the contest.
Osaka led 5-2 in the opening set but showed signs of struggles with her abdomen and called for a physio during a changeover. The 27-year-old initially soldiered on after treatment before eventually retiring.
"I really feel for Naomi, I saw her struggling a little bit at the end of the set and obviously it's not the way you would like this match to end," Bencic said.
"I thought it was a good match so hopefully she'll be fine soon and she can play well for the rest of the season."
Bencic will play either third seed Coco Gauff or Leylah Fernandez in the next round.
Sabalenka recovers after slow start
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka shrugged off a shaky display to fight her way into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Clara Tauson on Friday.
The day's first match on the Rod Laver Arena at the start of the sixth day of the championships was hardly vintage tennis, but Sabalenka was pleased to come away unscathed after a little over two hours in bright sunshine and challenging conditions.
"She played some unbelievable tennis," Sabalenka said.
"I'm super happy that I was able to close out this match and be in the fourth round."
Sabalenka has been far from her devastating best in the first two rounds and against Tauson she dropped serve four times in a wobbly opening set, but her opponent was equally profligate as both players struggled with the sun and breeze.
"Conditions are really tough for serving, the balls are heavy and the surface slow so with the breaks," said Sabalenka, who conceded four breaks in the opening set of a match for the first time since San Diego in 2022.
"I was just thinking, just keep pushing through."
The first hold in the eighth game was greeted with a big round of applause as world number 42 Tauson surged to a 5-3 lead, but Sabalenka roared back like a tiger, the animal that has become her totem.
The top seed stabilised her own delivery and then drew level at 5-5 before Tauson recovered to save four set points and force a tiebreak, where she matched the big-hitting Belarusian punch for punch in the first 10 points.
Sabalenka shifted up a gear, however, and earned a set point with a stinging backhand winner before closing it out with a big forehand to leave Auckland champion Tauson a tad deflated after 63 minutes of toil.
The Dane gifted her opponent a break early in the second set but continued to carve out chances and made it to 4-4, only to fade away after a marathon game that had seven deuces as the momentum shifted one last time.
Sabalenka completed the win on serve to keep alive her bid to become the first woman to capture three successive titles at Melbourne Park since Martina Hingis from 1997-99. Up next is a clash with Magdalena Frech or Mirra Andreeva.
Earlier, 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova powered past German veteran Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-2.
Gauff sweeps aside Fernandez to reach last 16
Last year's semi-finalist Coco Gauff barely put a foot wrong as she continued her rollicking start to the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-2 win over Canadian 30th seed Leylah Fernandez to reach the fourth round.
Third seed Gauff had taken apart 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Fernandez in their only previous meeting at the United Cup mixed team tournament in late December and fans hoping for a tighter clash at Margaret Court Arena were left disappointed.
"I think it's harder (to face Fernandez again), because she knows what to expect. She played differently than she did at the United Cup," Gauff said.
"It's also harder because you're trying to change up from the last time. She's a great competitor and a great person, so I knew it would be a tough match regardless."
Having squandered three opportunities to break in a tough third game, Gauff pounced for a 4-3 advantage as Fernandez sent a shot long, before the 20-year-old American dictated play to close out the opening set.
The gulf in class became even more evident as Gauff raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and she pulled away to win her 16th successive set since the start of 2025 and advance in style at Melbourne Park.
The 2023 U.S. Open champion will face Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Belinda Bencic in the next round, after the Swiss went through when Naomi Osaka retired with an abdominal injury while trailing 7-6(3).
