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"I want peace": Ukraine-Russia talk blows up amid serious allegations
By SEN
Welcome back to our coverage of the first grand slam of the year.
We're going to need players dressed as unicorns walking on court today to raise the same level of WTF as day three but it's the Aus Open - you just never know.
It's a huge day for the Aussies with Priscilla Hon and Alex de Minaur given the blockbuster timeslots on Rod Laver tonight. Aryna Sabalenka has already got things underway on Rod Laver this morning with loads of other HUGE names in action.
We will bring you all the news, results and reaction as it happens.
WORLD NO 1 RESPONDS TO ACCUSATIONS OF "FUNDING PUTIN'S WAR"
Aryna Sabalanka insists she "wants peace" amid accusations from Ukrainian star Oleksandra Oliynykova the world No 1 has been help fund the Russia-Ukraine war.
Oliynykova made explosive claims this week that players like Sabalenka, Shnaider an dothers were "dangerous" and openly supporting the Putin invasion of Ukraine.
"I am living alongside dangerous people, Oliynykova said.
"And their actions are dangerous."
"I'm talking about the world No 1. Did you know that she signed the list supporting Lukashenko in 2020 during the protests in Belarus when the streets were covered in blood. "She signed it and declared Lukashenko was her president.
"Shnaider (a Russian player) was honoured by Putin - she said she would be delighted to receive an award from her president - they were her words.
"There are also players who compete in the Gazprom exhibition, one of the emain sponsors of the war. this tournament was organised to spit in the face of fair play and unity. to show they don't care. Medvedev participated.
"Meanwhile I was waking up because of the explosions."
She would also go on to say that players from Russia had helped fund drones that have been used in conflict.
“I mean, they paid for the Shahed drones. They supported the fact that their army is doing this— and it’s not OK. And now we are absolutely not in the same condition, and this is their mistake as well.”
Offered the chance to respond, Sabalenka, who had just secured her third round spot said: “I’ve spoken a lot about that before,”
“Obviously, I want peace, and if I could change anything, I would definitely do that.
“Other than that, I have nothing else to say.
6:31pm WILDCARD BLOWS FOURTH SET OPPORTUNITY
He was up 4-1 with two break points to go 5-1, yet somehow wildcard Jordan Thompson lost the fourth set and is now out of the singles draw.
Against Portugal's Nuno Borges, the New South Welshman proceeded to lose the next five games, having completely capitulated to at least go to a fifth set.
It means that Borges will go 4-0 in their head-to-head record. It also pushes Thompson's AO overall singles record to 6-13.
6:07pm TOMLJANOVIC LOSES OPENING SET
Not the start Ajla Tomljanovic would have been hoping for at John Cain Arena.
With a maiden third-round appearance at the AO up for grabs, the 32-year-old has made life harder for herself by losing the first set to Elena-Gabriela Ruse 4-6.
The Romanian got an early break to take a 3-1 lead and never surrendered it.
5:47pm WILDCARD FALLS BEHIND
Having won the opening set, Jordan Thompson now finds himself behind.
After hitting nine aces in the first set, his serving game has slightly dropped off, with his opponent, Nuno Borges, being able to make the most of his break point opportunities.
He is definitely up against it with Borges having won their three previous encounters, which include last year's match at Melbourne Park which also took place in the second round.
5:36pm ATTENDANCE FOR DAY 4 (Day session)
Death, taxes and another AO attendance record.
Tennis Australia has just confirmed that there was 68,011 people in attendance for the day session here on Wednesday.
That beats the previous record by about 12,500 people which was set in 2020.
4:27pm THOMPSON REDEEMS HIMSELF WITH LENGTHY TIE BREAK WIN
Once again, Jordan Thompson found himself in a first-set tie-break on 1573 Arena.
Having lost that one to Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the New South Welshman went on to win the next three sets.
But against Portugal's Nuno Borges, he gets it done, having won it 11-9.
If he can claim another two sets, Thompson enters uncharted waters as this would be the first time he has made the third round at the Australian Open as a singles player.
4:07pm DAY 5 SCHEDULE HAS BEEN RELEASED
The Day 5 schedule for the AO has been released, and there are plenty of mouth-watering matchups to look forward to.
On Rod Laver Arena, Jannik Sinner will be headlining the night session when he takes on Aussie wildcard James Duckworth in their second-round match.
This means that Novak Djokovic will play in the day session on centre court.
There will be plenty of attention to see what Naomi Osaka wears to Margaret Court Arena on Thursday, following her jellyfish-inspired costume on Tuesday night.
She'll play Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
Following his victory over Gael Monfils, Dane Sweeny now has the tough task of facing No. 8 seed Ben Shelton at John Cain Arena.
Out on Kia Arena, the Special K's (Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis) will begin their doubles campaign against fellow Aussies Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans.
But before they go on court, Rinky Hijikata and Taylah Preston will look to be a part of the Round of 32 as they face Valentin Vacherot and Linda Noskova, respectively.
3:28pm SHNAIDER DEFENDS APPEARANCE AT TENNIS EXHIBITION FUNDED BY RUSSIAN OIL COMPANY
Russian Tennis player Diana Shnaider has defended her appearance at the Gazprom Exhibition after being called out by Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova.
The No.23 seed, who just defeated Australian Talia Gibson in the second round of the Australian Open, featured in the Russian oil company's tennis exhibition, which had several Russian stars, including Daniil Medvedev and Shnaider.
Following that, the World No. 92 accused Shnaider, among several Russians, of being used by "one of the main sponsors" of the Russia-Ukraine war.
"There are also players who compete in the Gazprom exhibition, one of the main sponsors of the war. This tournament was organised to spit in the face of fair play and unity, to show they don't care. Medvedev participated," she said to Bounces.
"Meanwhile, I was waking up because of the explosions."
But the 21-year-old has defended her participation, saying that it is one of the few times that she has been able to see her family.
“We’ve been on tour for the whole year, and I rarely see my family really being at home,” she said.
“My only motivation is to be playing in St. Petersburg is just to visit my family, to show some great tennis for my fans who have been following us throughout the year, rooting for us and supporting us.
“And if I have this opportunity (to play in the Gazprom exhibition), I’m taking it.”
2:08pm HUNTER BECOMES HUNTED_
After an upset win against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Storm Hunter could not keep her singles run alive.
The Aussie qualifier lost to Hailey Baptiste 6-2, 6-1 with the American proving far too good, especially around the net.
Even though her singles campaign has come to an end, it's been an impressive effort considering she had to come back from a ruptured Achilles injury after her third-round appearance at the 2024 AO.
1:38pm HUNTER STRUGGLES IN OPENING SET
Storm Hunter will have to go the long way if she has any chance of matching her 2024 run.
The Queenslander has just lost the opening set to American Hailey Baptiste on ANZ Arena (Showcourt 3).
This is despite Baptiste only landing 56% of her first serves in.
1:25pm AUSSIE WILDCARD CHOKES
Wow. Talia Gibson has somehow found a way to lose her second round match-up against the No. 23 Diana Shnaider.
The West Aussie would had only just secured her first Grand Slam singles win on Day 1 and looked likely to continue her giant killing run after winning the first set 6-3.
And with a match point opportunity in at 5-4, it was just one rally away.
However, the Russian retained her service and won the set 7-5 and then won the third 6-3.
It means that she misses out on a $327,750 (AUD) pay day.
1:10pm SABALENKA STORMS INTO THE THIRD ROUND
The World No. 1 has made light work of China's Zhouxuan Bai out on Rod Laver Arena.
The Belarusian won the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, with Bai only winning four second serve points (16%) out of her 25 in the entire match compared to Sabalenka's nine from 15.
12:50pm GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME?
Is this the greatest comeback tennis has ever seen?
Ok we get a match like this at almost every grand slam but imagine what was going through Laura Siegemund’s mind at this exact moment in her clash with Liudmila Samsonova.
The German star was two points from leaving Australia and somehow…SOMEHOW…came back from 0-6 2-5 15-30.
Insane.
DON'T CHOKE
Young Aussie Talia Gibson just came withing one point of the biggest win of her career... she had three match points against world No 23 Diana Shnaider.
But the 21-year-old fluffed her lines, maybe she felt too much pressure, did the nerves get to her?
The Russian star, who I might add is sporting a bandana 1994 would be proud of, took the second and they're into a decider.
We will keep you posted.
12:05pm Play is underway and there is great news for the Aussies with Talia Gibson a set up on Russia's Diana Shnaider.
Elsewhere Sabalenka has taken the first in her clash on Rod laver Arena. Fair to say we may get some explosive post match interviews with so many Russian and Ukrainian players in action today.
9:45am POLITICAL STATEMENT?
For a tournament that bans players from making political statements, Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova has pushed thigs very close to the line.
The first round loser, who threw out some serious accusations against Russian and Belarusian players earlier this week, used her exit press conference to double down on claims players are funding the Putin war.
She also sported a not so subtle t-shirt which said: “I need your help to protect Ukrainian women and children but I can’t talk about it here."
Having suggested Russian players on the tour "were dangerous" and were helping to fund the drones involved in bombing her home country, Oliynykova took aim at world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka amongst others.
"I am living alongside dangerous people, she said. "And their actions are dangerous."
"I'm talking about the world No 1. Did you know that she signed the list supporting Lukashenko in 2020 during the protests in Belarus when the streets were covered in blood.
"She signed it and declared Lukashenko was her president.
"Shnaider (a Russian player) was honoured by Putin - she said she would be delighted to receive an award from her president - they were her words.
"There are also players who compete in the Gazprom exhibition, one of th emain sponsors of the war. this tournament was organised to spit in the face of fair play and unity. to show they don't care. Medvedev participated.
"Meanwhile I was waking up because of the explosions."
8:30am TEARS, VOMIT AND JELLYFISH
There was action everywhere on day three at Melbourne Park but you'd be forgiven for missing anything after about 7pm when Naomi Osaka did her best to replace the Beckham family in social media algorithms.
The 28-year-old came close to breaking the internet when she walked on court dressed like a jellyfish on its wedding day, but there was plenty happening elsewhere.
Most notably, a heart warming and breaking moment on Rod Laver Arena in the hours which followed Osaka, when Jannik Sinner's opponent Hugo Gaston was reduced to tears as he retired from the match.
A heavy fall forced the Frenchman to bow out with a wrist injury and the world No. 93 was in clear distress in his seat, weeping into his towel as Sinner attempted to console him.
Menwhile, over on Margaret Court Arena, Stefanos Tsitsipas had his match halted after a ball kid vomited all over it.
The Greek God had lost the opening set to Shintaro Mochizuki before the umpire brought a temporary end to proceedings while staff attended to the ball kid in question and some poor person was left to clean up.
