Tennis: Australian Open day six at Melbourne Park

Highlights of day six of the Australian Open.

Novak fumes:

Djokovic defeated Canadian Shapovalov in four sets but he didn’t have everything his own way, losing his temper a couple of times for different reasons.

He was furious at having to play in broad daylight with the lights on, blowing up and demanding they be switched off.

Djokovic took a 6-4 6-4 lead over Shapovalov under the Melbourne sun but was left gobsmacked when lights around the court went on before the third set got underway.

An animated Djokovic approached the umpire to have them turned off and also spoke to another official but was overruled. He was visibly upset and couldn’t understand why the lights needed to be on.

Djokovic took aim at the decision in his on-court interview after the match.

“There was no sense to turn on the lights at 5pm when we have another four hours of daylight and I don’t know, did you guys see the balls well?” he said to the crowd, whose cheers signalled its agreement.

“I saw them well too. I thought it was completely unnecessary to turn on the lights and the explanation that I got was for the TV reason.

“I hope the viewers enjoyed it,” he added.

During the match, channel 9 commentator Jim Courier insisted his network hadn’t asked for any lights to be turned on.

“I’ve been doing this a long time in this bunker. I don’t recall seeing lights on during the day and I don’t understand it,” Courier said.

Nick Kyrgios was commentating the match and joked Djokovic was getting upset because he wanted to save electricity.

Later in the third set the crowd copped some shade from Djokovic. Serving at 4-4, he served a double fault and was broken and those in the stands cheered.

The Serbian gave a sarcastic thumbs up but was clearly upset as he walked back to his chair. He was also given a time violation by the umpire when down 0-40 in that same game, which made his mood even worse.

“The crowd was cheering the double fault. He didn’t like that,” Courier said. “He didn’t like them cheering an unforced error.

“The six-time champ took offence at that. He is fuming.

“He was running hot there at the end.”

Djokovic couldn’t recover and Shapovalov served well to send the match into a fourth set. The top seed left the court before the fourth set started to cool off and it paid dividends as he roared to life and took it 6-0 to secure a 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory.

When Djokovic broke Shapovalov early in the fourth set, he made a point of roaring at a section of the crowd that was dissing him the set before.

2.40am: Popyrin digs deep but falls short

Alexei Popyrin’s crazy fightback against to French No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille has stunned tennis commentators around the globe.

But the Aussie young gun ran out of steam in the five-set marathon, eventually falling 7-6 6-3 6-7 4-6 6-3.

The 19-year-old Aussie had appeared dead and buried when he faced match point down in a rollercoaster, marathon third set tiebreak – but the night was only just beginning.

The French Open juniors champion caught fire at the end of the third set and delivered an impossible series of highlights, including one shot that was instantly put in the discussion for best shot of the tournament.

Popyrin’s hot streak continued into the fourth set when he jagged an early break of serve with some simply silly acrobatic efforts.

Popyrin earlier showed flashes of brilliance and moments of inexperience in dropping the first two sets 6-7 3-6.

But his third set tiebreak performance alone should be enough to leave a beaming grin on the faces of Aussie tennis fans.

The young Aussie held his nerve in a thrilling, marathon third set tiebreak which threatened to blow the roof of Margaret Court Arena roof when Popyrin’s clean backhand winner handed him the breaker 12-10 in incredible scenes.

Nerves originally got the better of him when he double-faulted on set point earlier in the tiebreak, but after defending two match points Popyrin finally took the set with his fifth set point.

Having failed to break Pouille’s serve all match, he twice broke in the fourth set and eventually sent the match into a deciding set..

His fourth set pyrotechnics were enough, win, lose or draw, to convince Australia that its tennis future is bright as long as Popyrin remains healthy.

Pouille showed his big match experience in the fifth set, breaking in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead after Popyrin slashed wildly with two ground strokes that sailed long.

He then plunged a dagger into Australian tennis’ heart by keeping his nerve on serve and eventually secured a marathon win 7-6 6-3 6-7 4-6 6-3.

Popyrin’s exit means Ash Barty is the only Aussie left in the men’s or women’s singles draw but with De Minaur and Popyrin still in their teens, the future is bright for the Australian men.

10.40pm: Halep hops over Venus

Simona Halep’s reward for defeating Venus Williams in the third round? A meeting with her sister Serena.

Last year’s Australian Open runner-up will face the younger Williams after she outclassed Venus 6-2 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena on Saturday night.

“It’s going to be a bigger challenge, but I’m ready to face it,” Halep said of her next match.

The Romanian was at her best from start to finish, never allowing Venus to get a glimpse of an upset win and will need to replicate that form in the fourth round.

7.50pm: Novak blows up, Raonic advances

Novak Djokovic was furious at having to play in broad daylight with the lights on, blowing up and demanding they be switched off.

Djokovic took a 6-4 6-4 lead over Canadian young gun Denis Shapovalov under the Melbourne sun but was left gobsmacked when lights around the court went on before the third set got underway.

He approached the umpire to have them turned off and spoke to another official but was overruled.

There was a suggestion it was to aid TV broadcasts when shadows appeared but Channel 9 commentator Jim Courier insisted his network hadn’t asked for any lights to be turned on.

“I’ve been doing this a long time in this bunker. I don’t recall seeing lights on during the day and I don’t understand it,” Courier said.

Nick Kyrgios was commentating the match and joked Djokovic was getting upset because he wanted to save electricity.

Later in the third set the crowd copped some shade from Djokovic. Serving at 4-4, he served a double fault and was broken and the crowd cheered.

The Serbian gave a sarcastic thumbs up but was clearly upset as he walked back to his chair. He was also given a time violation by the umpire when down 0-40 in that same game.

“The crowd was cheering the double fault. He didn’t like that,” Courier said. “He didn’t like them cheering an unforced error.

“The six-time champ took offence at that. He is fuming.

“He was running hot there at the end.”

Djokovic couldn’t recover and Shapovalov served out the set to send the match into a fourth set. The top seed left the court vefore the fourth set started to cool off.

On Melbourne Arena, Milos Raonic survived some nervous moments to complete a straight sets win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The Frenchman launched a spirited fightback in the third set tiebreaker but Raonic remained composed and advanced to the fourth round with his 6-4 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory.

7pm: Serena’s touching message

Serena Williams was all class as she consoled 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska after her straight sets demolition of the Ukrainian.

Williams blitzed the teenager 6-2 6-1 in one hour and seven minutes and Yastremska — like so many others before her — had no answer to the American’s power.

The youngster was on the verge of tears as she approached Williams at the net after the match, and will have been heartened to receive some comforting words from a woman nearly 20 years her senior.

“You were amazing, don’t cry,” Williams told her opponent. “You’re amazing. You’re so young. You’re gonna make me cry.”

In her on-court interview, the 37-year-old heaped more praise on Yastremska. “I thought she did really amazing, she came out swinging. To be so young, I feel she really came out ready to go,” Williams said.

Williams was also all class away from the cameras, repeating that sentiment to Yastremska in the locker room.

“She’s a nice person. She’s the type of person that can be even on court nice. It was really nice to hear from her those words, especially after this kind of match,” Yastremska said in her post-match press conference.

“She is nice, she told me a couple of nice words when we met in the changing room that, ‘You’re young, very good and will be a good player in the future.’

“It’s nice to hear those words from a legend. If she thinks that, maybe it’s true!”

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Williams said it “broke my heart” to see her opponent so upset but was also impressed because it “it shows she wasn’t just there to play a good match. she was there to win”.

4.20pm: Svitolina’s touching act of sportsmanship

Elina Svitolina won a three-set thriller over Shuai Zhang, taking nearly three hours to get the job done.

The Ukrainian sixth seed bounced back after losing the first set to win the next two and claim a 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory in a physical clash that left both players exhausted.

Zhang was cooked at the end of it, unable to move from her chair after hugging her opponent at the net and shaking hands with the umpire. Rather than gather her gear and head off the court, she stayed seated and reflected on falling just short of reaching the fourth round.

Svitolina showed her class when she went over to Zhang and chatted to her, the pair sharing a laugh after their epic encounter.

The world melted over the touching act of sportsmanship.

“Isn’t this touching,” one Channel 9 commentator said. Another called it “fantastic sportsmanship”.

2.45pm: Osaka comes back to avoid upset

US Open champion Naomi Osaka was caught off-guard in the first set by underdog Hsieh Su-wei, who capitalised on the 21-year-old’s 20 unforced errors to get ahead 7-5.

The usually reserved Osaka let off some steam after dropping the first set, throwing her racquet and shaking her head in frustration. Her brief dummy-spit earnt her a code violation from the umpire.

Osaka came back to win the second set 6-4 and won the decider in dominant fashion 6-1.

Sixth seed Elina Svitolina also dropped the first set in her third round match against China’s Shuai Zhang 6-4, back came back to win the second with the same scoreline, before taking the decider 7-5.

12.45pm: Nadal’s message to de Minaur

Rafael Nadal declared “everything is a step forward” after brutally downing Alex de Minaur in last night’s round three clash.

The World No. 2 was in glittering form as he continued his quest for an 18th Grand Slam by punishing the Australian teenagerin a third-round tennis masterclass 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

“In general terms, everything is a step forward. So that’s positive news for me,” said the man who won at Melbourne Park backin 2009.

“I’m very happy for the victory against someone who had won seven matches in a row, winning a tournament.” Nadal ruthlessly dragged the 19-year-old Australian 27th seed — who won last week’s Sydney International — over every inch ofRod Laver Arena as he romped to victory in 2hr 22min.

The Spaniard limped out of last year’s Australian Open at the quarter-final stage and ended his 2018 season after retiringin similar fashion from the US Open in September.

He then had surgery on a foot injury and doubts remained when he pulled out of his Brisbane warm-up with a thigh niggle.

But his fitness levels have grown with every outing in Melbourne and he was back to his barnstorming best as he hardly allowedhis young rival a sniff.

“I felt more dynamic with my movements tonight — every day a little bit better, in my opinion,” Nadal said.

De Minaur, to his eternal credit, did little wrong and never gave up the fight. At fleeting moments he even had a glimmerof hope of applying the brakes to the runaway Nadal juggernaut when he held a rare break point in each of the first two sets.

And at the end he dug deep to save six match points — one after chasing down ball after ball in a lung-bursting 24-shot rally.

“He is a big fighter. Probably he is the fastest on the tour,” Nadal said after the match. “That match point saved was unbelievable. Always is a dangerous match.” De Minaur was constantly pressuredand pummelled on serve by a brutal Nadal. The first game of the second set ran to nine deuces and 18 minutes at which point the relentless Nadal secured it on his fifth break point.

De Minaur, who has Spanish heritage, thought he did better in his second outing at a Slam against the man he dubs “the king”, even though the scoreline was identical to his defeat at the same stage of Wimbledon last year.

“I felt like definitely games were a lot longer,” said De Minaur, who has a Spanish mother and Urugayan father.

“But, geez, he served well. Going through the whole (first) set, serving, I think it was 80 percent first serves. That’s prettyscary. There were decent-paced first serves as well.” Nadal moves on inexorably and will face unseeded Czech former world number four Tomas Berdych for a place in the quarter-finals.

“I want to congratulate Alex for a great start to the season,” said Nadal. I think he has an amazing future.”