Australian Open 2026 LIVE updates: Demon’s delight: Australian star advances in straight sets over American seed; Kyrgios reaches the next round

Great answer from Alex de Minaur when Jim Courier asked him about how he handles the pressure of playing in Australia:

“In my brain, ... I don’t associate playing in Australia as playing with pressure. I associate it with just excitement.

“Since I was a little kid, this is where I wanted to be, where I wanted to play in front of packed crowds.

“I’m truly fortunate to be in this position and yes, it gets stressful at times, but that’s only want it so bad. So I’ll do my best.”

Alex de Minaur has won his match with Frances Tiafoe and is into the fourth round of the Australian Open.

He beat the American 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in just over two-and-a-half hours.

De Minaur will face the winner of Alexander Bublik and Tomas Etcheverry, who are playing at present.

More to come

Alex de Minaur won an epic rally with Frances Tiafoe in the 11th game of the third set, and it ended with Tiafoe slipping over as he chased a winner.

He lay down for a moment and then appeared to be gesturing to the umpire, but he was actually trying to coax one of the ballkids to extend a hand and help pull him up.

He bounced up once his hand locked with the ballkid’s, and the crowd laughed.

That’s a lovely moment from a great competitor. It gave him a boost as well, given he came back from 15-40 down to get to deuce.

But de Minaur was too consistent and insistent, eventually breaking Tiafoe’s serve.

The Aussie will serve for the match after the change of ends.

Frances Tiafoe is back in this set after breaking Alex de Minaur’s serve.

The American got on the front foot and landed some excellent shots and forced de Minaur to hit the ball long – something that has rarely happened in the earlier sets.

This one ain’t over yet.

Tiafoe is serving at two sets down but 4-4 in the third set.

As Marc McGowan notes from Rod Laver Arena: Tiafoe is suddenly the one dictating play now. De Minaur has done a great job for most of the night of making the American constantly move and rarely be able to settle on the baseline, but it is the Australian having to chase now. From being within touching distance of victory, de Minaur now has a battle on his hands to avoid this extending to a fourth set.

Frances Tiafoe has been looking to his box, and to the skies, as Alex de Minaur repeatedly chased down what looked to be certain winners.

But in his last service game he nailed a sensational winner down the line, and he raised his fist in celebration.

Tiafoe is no mug and can match it with anyone on the tour, but de Minaur has been unpassable for much of tonight.

So, Tiafoe knew he needed to celebrate the wins when he got them.

De Minaur is up 6-3, 6-4, 4-3, with the Aussie to serve next.

Play has resumed on Rod Laver Arena and it seems paramedics have walked up to the top of the stand to help the person who was struggling.

I haven’t seen them take a stretcher up, so perhaps they will stabilise the person and slowly walk them down.

The staff are very well-trained for this event and know their drills on how to move sick or ailing fans from all parts of the court.

De Minaur is serving at 6-3, 6-4, 2-1 up in the third set.

It appears a fan has collapsed in a stand at Rod Laver Arena.

The players stopped after hearing something and the referee immediately called for help – I couldn’t see it, but I think the fans at the top had called out for help.

Australian Open staff are with the person now. It’s hard to see if they have fainted or are having a medical episode – or both.

But play has stopped for the last few minutes, and both players remain in place.

De Minaur leads 6-3, 6-4, 2-0.

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