Australian Open LIVE: Raducanu beaten by Gauff, Nadal out
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The Australian Open is back in full swing on day three of the tournament in what is set to be another hectic schedule. Play on Tuesday was severely disrupted due to extreme heat before torrential downpour ended up seeing matches rescheduled for today.
In total, 22 first-round matches had to be moved to Wednesday with more rain expected today at Melbourne Park. Tuesday saw Andy Murray pick up arguably the biggest shock of the tournament as he beat Matteo Berrettini in a five-set thriller.
The near-five hour contest saw Murray take a two-set lead before the Italian fought back to force a decider. But the Brit was able to rally back to win the 10-point tiebreak and set up a second-round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Rafael Nadal is back in action after he survived a scare against Jack Draper in the opening day of the tournament. However, all eyes will be on Emma Raducanu’s blockbuster clash with Coco Gauff on Rod Laver Arena later in the evening.
KEY EVENTS
Watch: Short highlights as Raducanu crashes out to Coco Gauff
It’s the end of the road for Emma Raducanu, who lost out in the battle of the young starlets down under.
Check out all the best of the highlights from the match, below.
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Past 1am and play still going on
Cameron Norrie is facing a race against time to get his match against Constant Lestienne finished tonight.
It’s already past 1am local time and the match is midway through the fourth set.
It’s the only match still being played out on Melbourne Park now.
Norrie fighting
Cameron Norrie looked in a whole heap of trouble midway through the third set.
But he’s miraculously found form at the right time, coming back from 4-1 down to win the tiebreak.
The British No 1 now holds a 2-1 lead in sets heading into the fourth.
Norrie in trouble
Cameron Norrie may be wanting those rowdy spectators back to disrupt Constant Lestienne.
The Frenchman levelled things up in the second set and is in cruise control in the third.
The British tennis star has struggled to make a run at the Australian Open throughout his career and could be set for a first-round exit for the third time in four years.
Three fans kicked out
Cameron Norrie’s match against Constant Lestienne was disrupted towards the end of the first set which resulted in three rowdy spectators being kicked out of the stands.
The Frenchman soon became the target of chants from the three ‘Brits’, who were chanting “Constant’s going home” as well as “You’re just a s*** Andy Murray”.
The trio were eventually kicked out when it appeared as though the match umpire had enough of their loud singing.
Watch highlights of Murray’s next opponent
Thanasi Kokkinakis returned this morning to beat Fabio Fognini and set up a showdown with Andy Murray.
Watch every match from the Australian Open live and exclusive on discovery+ and Eurosport
‘Kyriakis’
Thanasi Kokkinakis was mistaken for Nick Kyrgios in a bizarre exchange at the start of his press conference following his win over Fabio Fognini on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old was addressed as “Nick” by a reporter hoping to ask a question about his support from the Greek Aussies.
“Wow, wow,” Kokkinakis replied in shock.
“That is (a) firing, that’s you done. I’m going to can that.
“That is s***house from you.”
Gauff happy to deliver
Coco Gauff believes her match with Emma Raducanu lived up to the hype after coming through a testing match against the Brit.
“I just told myself to hang in there, Emma was playing really good tennis towards the end of the match,” she said.
“Honestly the whole match was great. In the beginning, I think we both started off rocky but I think the match was good quality for the most part.
“Considering the circumstances, I can imagine both of us were nervous. This was a long-anticipated match up basically since the draw came out so I’m glad it was a good match for you guys.”
Coco Gauff WINS
Emma Raducanu is out of the Australian Open!
Tough loss for the Brit against a below-par Coco Gauff, particularly in the second set.
The 2021 US Open champion was clearly struggling with some stomach issue, but she had her chances to at least force a third set.
But Gauff holds her nerve in the tiebreak to progress to the third round.
READ FULL REPORT HERE
Tiebreak
Has Raducanu missed her chance?
Coco Gauff digs deep to hold off the Brit and force a tiebreak.
It’s anybody’s guess how this tiebreak goes now…
All square
What a turn of events this is but Emma Raducanu will be kicking herself for not taking the second set just then!
Coco Gauff’s lacking any confidence on her forehand and Raducanu’s unforced errors cost her dearly.
The American is on the ropes here at the moment and ready for the taking.
Not the best tennis from either player by any means but Raducanu must take this opportunity.
Raducanu breaks!
That goes to show what I know. Raducanu absolutely blitzes the following game winning four consecutive points on Gauff’s serve to break back.
Scores now level 4-4 in the second set.
Gauff cruising
Coco Gauff leads 6-3, 4-3 on serve after one hour and 12 minutes, there can’t be much longer left in this one.
Raducanu hasn’t looked like breaking so far and is heading towards an early exit.
Watch Nadal highlights
Watch the highlights as Mackenzie McDonald downs Rafael Nadal in straight sets
Watch every match from the Australian Open live and exclusive on discovery+ and Eurosport
Gauff breaks again
Emma Raducanu looks to be in some pain at the moment and it’s cost her dearly.
Coco Gauff now a set and a break up with Raducanu struggling with something in her stomach.
Gauff takes first set
Impressive battling from Raducanu in that last game but Gauff was equally magnificent in holding off the Brit to take the first set 6-3.
There was a total of 11 break-point opportunities from both players in that first set.
The No 7 seed does enough to hold on but Raducanu is certainly not out of this.
A record nearly broken
Elsewhere in Melbourne Park, Jason Kubler and Karen Khachanov came within two shots of breaking a long-standing Australian Open record.
The pair exchanged an incredible 70-point shot rally with the Australian coming out on top in the end.
French duo Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils reportedly hold the record for the longest rally in Australian Open history after they exchanged 71 shots back in 2015.
Three successive breaks!
Neither player performing at their best and now Gauff takes control once more.
Raducanu not looking too comfortable on serve, particularly with Gauff’s strong backhand.
Already 14 unforced errors for the Brit in just the seventh game.
Raducanu breaks back
The Brit not letting Coco Gauff running away with it and battles hard to break back immediately and we’re back on serve!
Perfect timing from Raducanu to bring the match back level.
Gauff breaks
The No 7 seed is many people’s pick to win the Australian Open this year and Emma Raducanu is already up against it.
She saved break point in her first service game, but couldn’t do the same a second time.
Gauff now with a 3-1 lead and on serve in the first set.
Raducanu vs Gauff underway
No rest for the wicked as we’re back underway on Rod Laver Arena with a cracker of a match.
Emma Raducanu not being seeded means she comes up against Coco Gauff for the first time in her career.
A blockbuster second-round tie in the women’s draw and the match is now underway!
Nadal raises retirement fears
It doesn’t look likely we’ll see Rafael Nadal back on a tennis court anytime soon after his Australian Open exit – if at all going by his press conference.
The No 1 seed cut a despondent figure infront of the world’s press as he spoke openly about having to comeback from another injury setback.
While admitting that he “is ready” to go through it once more, Nadal added that he’s not 100 per cent sure.
“So I really hope that that don’t put me out of the court for a long time, because then it’s tough to make all the recovery again. Is not only the recovery,” he said.
“It’s all the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level.
“So I went through this process too many times in my career, and I am ready to keep doing, I think, but that’s not easy, without a doubt.”
Nadal OUT
What a shock to wake up to in the UK!
The defending champion is out of the Australian Open and the bigger issue now will be how severe is the injury.
He looks deflated walking off the court, but all credit to MacKenzie McDonald for not getting distracted throughout to pick up the biggest win of his career.
McDonald breaks again!
Nadal could be on his way out of the Australian Open in a matter of seconds now!
The Spaniard had looked as though he was fighting back in the third set and had some opportunities to take back control.
But Nadal seemed in pain once again while serving at 5-5 and now McDonald is serving for the match.
Good morning!
Welcome back to Express Sport’s live coverage of the Australian Open and we potentially have a shock on the cards already.
Rafael Nadal has suffered an apparent hip injury during his match against MacKenzie McDonald and the Spaniard has gone two sets down.
His wife was seen wiping away tears in the player’s box when Nadal went down to the ground in serious pain.
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