Aussies down to doubles as Demon falls on Day 10

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Day 10 RECAP

For the Aussies, it's all down to the doubles as record-breaking heat saw the last of our home town hero.

Soaring to near 45 degrees in Melbourne's CBD, the day's play was heavily influenced by the overwhelming heat sweeping across the state.

Women's No.1 Aryna Sabalenka cruised through her quarter finals matchup, downing Iva Jovic 6-3 6-0 to advance into the semi-finals. Elina Svitolina awaits, as she detonated on No.3 ranked Coco Gauff, claiming a dominant 6-1 6-2 victory.

On the men's side, Alexander Zverev proved too strong for young Learner Tien, advancing in four sets after an impressive effort under a closed roof at Rod Laver

Aussie duo Kubler and Polmans took down French pairing Doumbia/Reboul to advance in the men's doubles, whilst mixed doubles pair Gadecki/Peers took down the five seeded Pavic/Krunic - unfortunately, the doubles remain the only Aussies left within our home tournament.

Despite an incredible effort, Alex de Minaur fell valiantly to No.1 seed Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets, closing off the night and his tournament in entertaining yet heart-breaking fashion.

See all the best updates below!

10:44pm - Carlos Alcaraz defeats Alex de Minaur

It was a valiant effort, but Alex de Minaur was simply no match for the world No. 1.

After pushing Alcaraz in the first set it was all the Spaniard, claiming a 7-5 6-2 6-1 victory to see off the home town hero at Rod Laver Arena.

It wasn't for a lack of effort from Alex, who put some of his best tennis on display in front of his home crowd.

However, its all over, and Alcaraz advances to his first ever Australian Open semi-final, where he will face Alexander Zverev!

Still yet to lose a set across the entire tournament thus far, Alcaraz is making a real statement in Melbourne.

10:29pm Opportunity goes begging for de Minaur

He'll be rueing that missed break point opportunity.

Alex de Minaur had an opportunity to close the gap to just one break of serve on two occasions in the third game.

But the world No. 1 has defended it.

And when given the chance to defend his serve, he does so by generating a forced error out of his opponent.

Those forced errors are proving to be the difference between the two out on court at the moment.

Alcaraz leads 3-0.

10:16pm Alcaraz running away with this

Carlos Alcaraz is putting on a show against Alex de Minaur on Rod Laver Arena.

The Spaniard now wins his second set against the Australian 6-2, with victory looking highly probable now.

There's a lot to like about how he's gone about it.

Whether it's winning 81% of his net points or 75% of his first serves, he's simply too good.

And he's now broken de Minaur for the sixth time this match.

10pm Quick hold by Demon

A very quick service game from de Minaur which has not been his style so far in this one.

He claims the sixth game of the set within two minutes with Carlos Alcaraz not winning a point there.

9:53pm De Minaur trying to stay within touching distance

With a long forehand from Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur has now gotten his first game of the second set to trail 3-1.

It was the same way that the Aussie won his first game of the first set. If this is anything to go by, then we should expect the world No. 6 to break the serve of Alcaraz.

Lets find out if he can.

9:47pm Deja vu on Rod Laver Arena

And it is in fact deja vu with Carlos Alcaraz who is once again 3-love up in a set.

The Spainard is proving far better on the baseline having won 61% of his points there compared to Alex de Minaur's 31% in the set.

9:42pm Alcaraz makes it two from two

In the 14 games that have been played between the two, there have been six breaks of serve.

And Carlos Alcaraz has secured his fourth to lead 2-love in the second set.

Can Alex de Minaur respond as he did in the previous set?

9:35pm A good opener from Alcaraz

A good recovery from Carlos Alcaraz there to win the opening game of the second set.

He was down love-30 but proceeded to reel off the next four points.

The world No. 1 has got de Minaur up to 24 forced errors, with two of those coming during that game.

9:28pm World No.1 secures first set

It's the fifth break of service in this set alone.

But it's by far the most important one as it gives Carlos Alcaraz the opening set (7-5).

The Spaniard does so with a cross-court shot from Alex de Minaur, clipping the net, which results in the ball going into the tram lines.

He could have secured it far earlier, having had three set points earlier in the game.

In all of de Minaur's losses at the Australian Open, he has lost the first set.

Can he flip the script on that tonight?

9:12pm De Minaur holds his own

We've got another break of serve.

And this time it's Alex de Minaur.

Striking a pose as elegant as a ballerina, he hits a gorgeous backhand down the line to convert his second break point of the match.

And he gives a fist pump to the crowd to fire them up with the match now 5-4 in Alcaraz's favour.

And now it's 5-5 with the Australian winning some important points.

What a match this has been so far.

9:05pm Alcaraz regathers

The world No. 1 has recomposed himself here.

After once again taking the lead in the set, the Spaniard proceeded to force some forehand errors out of de Minaur to break his serve for the second time this match.

Carlos Alcaraz now has a chance to serve for the set.

8:56pm We're level again

What a quick turnaround by Alex de Minaur!

Having been down three games to love to the world No. 1, the Aussie has responded with three games of his own.

While Alcaraz has managed seven winners so far, those mostly came in the first three games.

And now, his 12 unforced errors (seven of those from his backhand) are becoming rather prominent.

8:52pm Demon BREAKS

The Australian is up and about now, and he's well and truly in the match now.

In the fifth game of the first set, Alex de Minaur managed to break Carlos Alcaraz.

He took his time after going love-40, having waited until his third break point chance to convert with another unforced error from the World No. 1's backhand.

If he can hold his serve, he's back to equal.

8:48pm De Minaur on the scoreboard

After a strong start from Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur has now managed to get a game in the first set.

It was a solid hold of serve from the Australian, who won some decisive points thanks to some unforced errors from the Spaniard.

He trails 3-1.

8:37pm Alcaraz breaks on his first try

Carlos Alcaraz looked likely to get the break quickly, having claimed the first two points of the game.

However, two shots long and one in the net saw Alex de Minaur take the lead in the game.

But the world No. 1 has recovered with some forehand winners to get an early break.

He's already hit seven winners compared to de Minaur with none. This is not the start the Australian would have wanted.

8:31pm Quick hold of service by Alcaraz

The Spaniard starts the match with a quick hold of serve.

That was a nice little settler by the world No. 1 to start his quarter-final clash against the Australian.

8:20pm The Demon has entered the court

Alex de Minaur and Carlos Alcaraz have both entered the court to great applause from the Rod Laver Arena.

He's about to embark on what is set to be a 'career defining' clash as described by SEN Tennis' Mark Woodforde.

The World No. 1 in Alcaraz will serve first.

8:13pm WATCH: Gauff unleashes on her racquet following horrible loss

Coco Gauff is certainly not pleased with her 1-6, 2-6 loss against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.

And you can see how much the loss means to the 21-year-old American having just unleashed on her racquet.

8:06pm Svitolina through to the semis

Wow!

Elina Svitolina is in some form at the moment.

She continues her undefeated start to the 2026 season to make the fourth Grand Slam singles semi-final of her career by destroying No. 3 seed Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-2.

You can see the American looks incredibly disappointed with her performance, and she leaves the court as quickly as possible, getting as far away from the cameras as possible.

But for the Ukrainian, she is looking ominous for her semi-final match against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka as she re-enters the top 10 after coming back from maternity leave.

7:48pm Svitolina on a tear

Elina Svitolina has never made a semi-final at Melbourne Park.

But she is on the verge of doing so.

The Ukrainian No. 12 seed is running rampant against Coco Gauff, having won the first set 6-1 and is now a break up in the second (3-0).

The American is trying to keep her composure, but with 19 unforced errors, she isn't helping herself.

This would lead SEN Tennis expert Candy Reid to say that she has not seen the 31-year-old play any better than she has ever done.

Reid: "I don't know if Elina Svitolina can play any better than this."

This might be finished within 60 minutes. Yikes.

7:57pm The stat that could help de Minaur secure maiden AO semi-final

We're only moments away from Alex de Minaur's quarter final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz out on Rod Laver Arena.

The Australian will come into the match as the underdog against the world No. 1, who has won all five of their previous matchups.

But should one thing go in favour of de Minaur, it could change his odds.

In the 30 matches that the World No. 6 has played since his Australian Open main draw debut back in 2017, he has won the first set on 17 occasions.

And on those 17 occasions, he has proceeded to win all them all.

If he doesn't win the first set, his chances of victory at Melbourne Park drop to 38%.

See the tables below.

7:42pm Two Aussie doubles pairs through to the semis

Some success out on the Australian front from Margaret Court Arena.

In the men's doubles, Marc Polmans and Jason Kubler are through to the last four, having beaten the French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Should they win, they would become the third all-Aussie pair in five years to win the title.

While in the mixed doubles, John Peers and Olivia Gadecki defeated the No. 5 seeds Mate Pavic and Aleksandra Krunic in straight sets (6-1, 7-6 (8-6)).

6:58pm Extreme heat policy still in action

This heat will not relent!

We're now into the sixth hour of no play on outside courts with the AO's Heat Stress Scale reaching its maximum rating of 5.0.

Initially, play on outside courts was meant to begin just after 6:30pm.

But that has now been pushed back an hour later with eight junior doubles matches still left to play.

There are no signs as of yet that these matches will be rescheduled for tomorrow.

6:15pm Groth: Craig Tiley has done incredible things for the AO

SEN's Sam Groth has praised how Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley has helped transform the Australian Open into the event it has become.

Since taking on the chief role in 2013 after being the Director of Tennis at TA for eight years, the South African has played a large part in how the event has expanded.

And this could potentially be his last Australian Open, with rumours swirling that he has been in advanced talks with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to become their new CEO.

When asked about how the tournament has come along throughout the last 20 years, the big-serving Australian spoke on all the different aspects that have helped the tournament grow.

"I was 17 when Craig first came down as the head of performance here at Melbourne from the US out of the college system," Groth said on SEN's The Run Home.

"If you think about the event 21 years ago compared to what it is now...the growth of the site, the extra stadiums they've built, we've got three courts with roofs now and you don't have to be a tennis fan (to enjoy it).

And of course, for the sporting lover and the tennis purist, maybe they don't enjoy the Australian Open hugging all the other pieces.

"But the tennis is still available for those who purely want to watch tennis.

"But the offering that Melbourne Park now gives us over what is three weeks, it's an incredible event.

"And if it wasn't a tennis tournament, it would be the biggest music festival in Victoria with the amount of music acts (it has). The foods amazing.

"He has built a legacy around the Australian Open, so I can understand (how) another big sporting body or another big tennis association like the USTA (is) wanting to chase Craig.

"Because what he has built here is a ginormous event that has a huge legacy, whether he stays or goes.

"He's done incredible things for the Australian Open."

5:59pm Attendance for Day 10

The hot weather has certainly made an impact on Day 10's attendance numbers with only 21,226 coming through the gates for the afternoon session.

5pm Zverev through to the semis

Alexander Zverev is one step closer to avenging his 2025 AO Final loss after defeating American Learner Tien.

The German defeated the 20-year-old in four sets (6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-6).

The No. 3 seed was on fire with his serves, having hit 24 aces throughout the match helping result in 37% of his serve being unreturned.

He'll have to wait till later tonight to find out his semi-final opponent, which will be either Alex de Minaur or Carlos Alcaraz.

4:48pm The stat that could help de Minaur secure maiden AO semi-final

We're only hours away from Alex de Minaur's quarter final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz out on Rod Laver Arena.

The Australian will come into the match as the underdog against the world No. 1, who has won all five of their previous matchups.

But should one thing go in favour of de Minaur, it could change his odds.

In the 30 matches that the World No. 6 has played in his Australian Open main draw debut back in 2017, he has won the first set on 17 occasions.

And on those 17 occasions, he has proceeded to win all his matches.

If he doesn't win the first set, his chances of victory at Melbourne Park drop to 38%.

See the tables below.

3:45pm Zverev gets an all important break

With Alexander Zverev and Learner Tien having won a set each, the 28-year-old has gone up another gear in the third.

Against the American, the No. 3 seed has gotten not one but two breaks of service to be one game away from clinching the set 6-1.

3:10pm Star slams social "clickbait" amid USA politics fallout

American Amanda Anisimova has explained why she refused to answer a question during one of her press conferences.

After her second round win over Katerina Siniakova, the 24-year-old was asked by a journalist about how she feels playing for her country since Donald Trump began his second term as US President last year.

The right-hander would shut down the question immediately, feeling that the question was "irrelevant", with Anisimova later believing that the question was not asked in good faith.

"The fact that I didn't want to answer a question that was obviously intended for a headline and clickbait, that was my right," she said following her fourth round win against Xinyu Wang.

“It had nothing to do with my political views or anything like that.

"So, the fact that people assume that they know my stance on certain important topics is just wrong and it’s not factual.”

The No. 4 seed has a date in the quarter finals against fellow American Jessica Pegula.

2:05pm Sabalenka storms into semi

And we have our first semi-finalist for the women's singles.

The two-time AO Champion Aryna Sabalenka books her ticket to the last four with a 6-3, 6-0 against American teen Iva Jovic.

It brings the end of a breakout Grand Slam performance by the 18-year-old who had not made it out of the second round at a major prior to this tournament.

But for Sabalenka, she's now one match away from making her fourth straight Australian Open Final.

1:32pm Extreme heat policy placed into action

Out of a scale of 1 to 5 on the AO's Heat Stress Scale, we're up to a 5.0 with the temperature hitting 37.8 degrees at Melbourne Park.

As a result, tournament organisers have deployed their extreme heat policy.

Margaret Court Arena has just seen a stoppage in play for a third round women's doubles match between Hailey Baptiste/Peyton Stearns and Elise Mertens/Shuai Zhang.

Rod Laver Arena has also had its roof closed following Aryna Sabalenka's win against American teen Iva Jovic.

This will not impact the upcoming men's quarter-final match between Alexander Zverev and Learner Tien, who will play as planned under the roofed arena.

And play has now been suspended on all outside courts. Although there are no matches scheduled there until 6:30pm AEDT.

This also applies to any of the outside practice courts.

1:10pm Federation boss criticises teen star's performance

It's always tough to get criticism from your boss. But try dealing with that after your boss slams you to the media.

After watching Mirra Andreeva lose her fourth-round clash against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on , there was not a shred of empathy or support from the president of the Russian tennis federation for their star.

“Nothing to say about Mirra's game. With a game like that, it's useless to count on the future,” Yevgeny Kafelnikov said.

“Considering the style of tennis Mirra plays this result was predictable.”

Dude she’s 18-years-old calm down.

This after Andreeva was subjected to boos as she left the court for not shaking hands with Svitolina – which was disappointing given the Ukrainian has stated on so many occasions that she will not perform the end of match ritual with Russians.

11:45am Another star busted with banned device

For the third time this Australian Open a champion of the sport has been told to remove a data collection device.

Jannick Sinner was caught out by umpire Greg Allensworth during his fourth round clash on Monday this despite both world No 1s Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz being busted doing the same thing earlier in the week.

The fact the technology is banned at grand slams has been widely criticised in recent days with the creator of the band saying, “it’s data not steroids”.

It’s another crack in the system of tennis governance with the ATP and WTA both approving use of technology but the ITF – which looks after the grand slams – not altering their regulations as yet.

According to the Australian Open discussions for slams “are still on going”.

When asked about it, Sinner said he was fine to remove the device but explained they are significantly less disruptive to his in-match movement than the other options available to players.

“Yeah, there is certain data what we would like to track a little bit on court,” he said. “It’s not for the live thing. It’s more about you can see after the match.

“These are datas what we would like to use also in practice sessions because from that you can practise on with the heart rate, how much calories you burn, all these kinds of things. Yeah, I mean, the umpire asked me straightaway if this is the tracker. I said yes. He said remove. It’s fine.

“There are other things we could use. It’s the vest. But it’s a bit for me uncomfortable. You feel like you have something on the shoulders. It’s a bit different. But rules are rules. I understand. I won’t use it again.”

Whatever the rules, there is no clear advantage to any player sporting the device according to SEN's Sam Groth.

"It doesn’t give you an advantage in match," he said. "This is where tennis has had a problem for a number of years.

“The rules at every tournament are different. There's multiple governing bodies. Players would like to see some consistency. It’s been a bit of a beat up, but certainly you do want consistency."

10:20am Video of Kygios clubbing before Aus Open

Not for the first time in his career, Nick Kyrgios prepared for his Australian Open clash with a night out on the town.

Video has emerged of the superstar out in Melbourne allegedly on the eve of his second round mixed doubles clash alongside Leylah Fernandez on Monday afternoon. They lost in straight sets.

He is reported to have been partying at CBD spot Bar Bambi.

Video of the Aussie near the DJ booth posted to Tik Tok is captioned: “Tennis. What tennis? Nick Kyrgios - The life of the party on and off the court.”

This isn’t the first time he’s been spotted preparing for slam matches in such a manner. Not saying it works (it doesn’t), but remember Wimbledon 2019?

He spent the night at a local pub with a bunch of media and friends until about 11pm – he was only playing second round and Rafa Nadal the next day.

In fairness, Kyrgios did win the Acapulco title earlier that year while “partying every night” and he had beaten Nadal on his way to the final.

ALL CHANGE AMID HEATWAVE

The Australian Open Wheelchair Championships have been postponed for 24 hours and will now get under way on Wednesday.

Junior matches start at 9am in a bit to get as many played as possible before the dangerous condition really kick in.

According to the bureau, the hottest part of the day is expected at 4pm.

Alex de Minaur, who will play world NO 1 Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the semi-finals on Tesday night said the heat did not bother him.

“I’m Aussie. I don’t mind the heat. I have said it since day one. That’s just what I have grown up with," he said. "I’m ready for these types of conditions.

“Once I rock up on Tuesday and I walk on court, you just deal with whatever’s in front of you,” he said, adding that if the roof is closed it will be “pretty perfect conditions”.

“I had the chance to play with the roof closed when it started raining in my match against Hamad (Medjedovic), and I played at a pretty good level there.”

His opponent Alcaraz added: “I have to control the things that I can control. You know, if it is going to be really, really hot on Tuesday and the roof is going to be closed, I got to accept that and just try to play my best tennis on indoor,” he said on Sunday after his straight sets victory over Tommy Paul.

8am How Demon can slay Alcaraz

Alex De Minaur__ can finally beat world no.1 Carlos Alcaraz if he plays outside his comfort zone.

That is according to Mark Philippoussis who has urged the sixth-seeded Aussie to take it up to Alcaraz in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday night.

De Minaur is yet to beat Alcaraz in five attempts so far and will need everything to go right if he is to slay the star Spaniard.

"Alex is playing some great tennis - he's looking strong, moving well, mentally and physically as strong as ever," Philippoussis told AAP.

"But I believe that if he wants to try and get that first win over the boys, like an Alcaraz or a (Jannik) Sinner, he's going to have to play outside of his comfort zone.

"And what I mean by that is he's going to have to just be willing to take on more risk on the important points."

Former world no.8 Philippoussis believes De Minaur’s best shot is to disrupt the bulletproof game of Alcaraz by approaching the net more frequently.

"It is an important part of his game - obviously, it's not a natural part of his game to move forward, but by moving forward, by playing outside of your comfort zone, by stepping up and taking some risks, going forward is one part of it," he added.

"Because he's got great volleys, fantastic volleys, he's got great technique so when he's up there, he's comfortable. 

"Doing that consistently is one thing, but doing it where you're keeping your opponent off balance is another thing as well. 

"Giving someone like an Alcaraz rhythm is a very dangerous thing ... so you want to do something where you put him a little bit off balance to keep him guessing."

Philippoussis added: “Alex should definitely be stepping on court believing he can win no matter who he's playing. He has the game to do that."

De Minaur v Alcaraz is scheduled to kick off from 7:00pm AEDT tonight.