Djoker plays his hand to keep dream alive after tie-break thriller

Djokovic broke Sinner earler in the tiebreak before the Italian broke back and stormed 5-4 up in the deciding game.

However, the Serb pulled himself off the canvas and rallied to save a match point win the tiebreak 8-6, with Sinner up two sets to one in an enthralling contest on Rod Laver Arena.

5.55PM: SERVING MIND GAMES

Yannik Sinner has been working over Novak Djokovic with the serves, but the champion isn’t going quietly.

Sinner sent down some monster serves that set, one at 201km/h and another at 210km/h, but Djokovic has risen to the challenge.

The deciding second serve in the game which sent Sinner 4-1 up was a 200km/h thunderbolt, with his previous second serve more than 50 clicks slower on the radar gun.

Djokovic now needs a mammoth effort to stay alive in this match after two deuces went begging.

5.45PM: SINNER BREAKS NOVAK

After what seemed like an uneventful start to the fourth set, Jannik Sinner has blown it right open, breaking the reigning champion’s set to go up 3-1 in the fourth after a Djokovic backhand sailed long.

Djovovic has been trying to bring Sinner up to the net and it’s not been working well for the Serb, with several ripping returns set and another few this set.

5.25PM: GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME

To misquote Bill Lawry, it’s all happening here at Melbourne Park.

That tie-break has silenced the crowd at Rod Laver Arena to start the fourth set.

Djokovic has been re-energised after saving that match point.

5.05PM: WE’RE OFF TO A TIEBREAK

We’re off to a tiebreak, with the set locked at 6-6 after the Italian held his service game with a huge smash..

Channel 9’s Jim Courier has pointed out Jannik Sinner has won 70 per cent of his second serves so far this match.

4.55PM: BREAK IN PLAY AS MEDICAL STAFF CALLED

We’ve had a break in play at Rod Laver Arena, as it looks like medical staff are attending to a member in the crowd.

It’s quite hot out there.

It looks like the gentleman in question is on his feet and has been helped from the stands.

4.45PM: WE’RE STILL NECK AND NECK

Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are going punch for punch in the third set on Rod Laver Arena, locked up at 5-5.

And with a handy graphic up on the broadcast, we now know it’s been 2195 days, 18 hours and 20 minutes since Novak Djokovic last tasted defeat on Melbourne Park.

Can the King come back?

4.40PM: NECK AND NECK

Djokovic and Sinner are still trading service games, with the third set locked at 4-4.

Crowd being very vocal in support of both players on Rod Laver Arena.

4.30PM: DJOKOVIC LOOKING MORE COMPOSED

Novak Djokovic is looking slightly more composed this set, with both he and opponent Jannik Sinner holding serve.

The set is locked at 3-3 after the Italian won the first two 6-1, 6-2.

4.10PM: DJOKER FENDS OFF BREAK RISK

Novak Djokovic has fent off a real chance for Jannik Sinner to blow him out of the water early in the third set, holding serve after the game went to deuce.

Sinner then held serve at the other end.

4.00PM: SINNER STUNS TO CLAIM SECOND SET

Jannik Sinner has stunned Rod Laver Arena.

The Italian has taken the opening two sets of the semi-final 6-1 6-2 against 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.

“This has been almost beyond belief,” commentator Jim Courier said astonished at what he was witnessing.

Can the Serbian turn it around?

3.20PM: ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ DJOKOVIC DROPS FIRST SET

Novak Djokovic looks uncomfortable.

Sweating in the sun and with a 0-3 start on the scoreboard, the 10-time Australian Open champion looks susceptible.

It took just 12 minutes to see that Jannik was no Joker. The Italian No.4 seed’s sterling start also helped soften the pro-Novak crowd.

Was Rod Laver Arena in Belgrade or Melbourne? When Djokovic walked out there were more than 20 Serbian flags waving proudly in the stands.

Djokovic held serve to close the gap to 1-3. But it was clear early his undefeated reign in semi-finals at Melbourne Park – he is 10-0 in semis as well as in finals – was set for a stern test.

Three games later Jannik Sinner took the first set. Game on.

2.30PM: WOODBRIDGE: DJOKOVIC HAS HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR SCHEDULING

Aussie great Todd Woodbridge says Novak Djokovic’s scheduling headaches were his own doing.

The world No. 1 has made no secret of the fact he prefers playing at night on Rod Laver Arena as he chases an absurd 11th Australian Open crown.

After being overlooked for the night session in the fourth round in favour of Aussie Alex de Minaur, the Serbian again played second fiddle to the showdown between Jannik Sinner and Russian Andrey Rublev, with his quarter-final against Taylor Fritz scheduled during the afternoon.

He said after his fourth round win: “It’s no secret I love to play at 7pm, but it wasn’t bad at all today. Not too bad.”

Woodbridge on Friday dropped some inside information that Djokovic knew what he was getting into with the tournament scheduling when he accepted the option of opening his campaign with a first-round match on the opening day of the tournament — a move that gave him an additional day of recovery.

“He started the tournament first, on the Sunday, and it’s my understanding he was very happy to do that because he felt that gave him extended rest throughout the tournament,” Woodbridge said on Channel 9.

“It gave him more time to get ready and at his age he’s looking for that. So that meant that by virtue of having his match play in the afternoon after two days off, this part of the draw has to play first because Zverev played a couple nights ago and so they need the extra rest and that gets them into the evening match.

“So today’s semi-finals were already scripted in the position they are. It’s not about him getting shafted or getting put in the day. It goes back to the very beginning of the tournament where he decided it was best for him to go on the opening day and he was going to go deep and it gave him the best chance of recovery throughout the 15 days.”

2PM: GREEK CONNECTION

– Joey Riordan

Nick Kyrgios has caused an almighty stir on social media with a social media post cheekily suggesting he might be defecting to play for Greece.

In an Instagram upload from Melbourne, the injured star was pictured at a restaurant alongside Greek world No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas, and his good mate and a fellow Aussie tennis star with Greek heritage Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Kyrgios, who was born to a Greek father and Malaysian mother, captioned the image: “Things could be looking nice for team Greece soon.”

The image quickly went wild on social media with hundreds of comments, mostly of excitement with tennis fans daring to dream of the idea becoming reality.

Tsitsipas went along with the troublemaking, writing in the comments, “Davis Cup loading,” referencing the yearly tennis tournament where tennis stars represent their countries, while Kokkinakis simply wrote “trouble”.

Many other comments referenced Kyrgios’ infamous run-in with Tsitsipas at Wimbledon in 2022, a third-round match that sparked a war of words between the pair starting in their post-match press conferences and continuing during the Netflix documentary series Break Point.

In that program, Tsitsipas accused Kyrgios of bringing an “uneducated” approach to tennis in a fiery statement that he later walked back amid accusations of racism.

Therefore many fans were somewhat surprised to see the 25-year-old Greek star and the 28-year-old Aussie so chummy during this year’s Australian Open.

However Kyrgios’ suggestions of playing for a country other than Australia, if indeed he ever does return to the tennis court amid his ongoing rehabilitation from injury, should not come as a surprise to most onlookers.

The Canberran has long spoken about his perception that Australians have not accepted him as an athlete, and he recently rubbished any suggestions that he will compete for Australia at this year’s Paris Olympics.

In a column for Nine Newspapers in which Kyrgios also admitted that “part of me that knows my time in the sport may be over” – the tennis firebrand hit out at the treatment he received from the Australian Olympic Commission ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

At the time, then chef de mission Kitty Chiller said Kyrgios and then world No. 22 Bernard Tomic’s behaviour was being monitored.

Kyrgios said at the time: “Representing Australia at the Olympic Games has been a dream of mine since I was a kid … Unfortunately, while I have expressed every intention of trying to win a medal for my country in Rio, it’s very clear to me that the Australian Olympic Committee has other plans.”

He labelled the Australian Olympic Committee’s treatment of him as “unfair and unjust”, claiming the AOC had “chosen to publicly and privately disparage me”.

In his recent column, Kyrgios called the decision to ban him from those Olympics as “a disgrace”, and ruled out representing Australia in Paris.

“I wanted to play for my country (in 2016), I can’t say that I still have that desire,” Kyrgios wrote.

“And let’s be honest, I haven’t exactly felt like Australia has wanted me to represent it either. I’ve said before, I often feel more at home away from home.”

Meanwhile Kyrgios has impressed fans with his commentary for ESPN and Eurosport at this year’s Australian Open, while he’s also launched his Good Trouble podcast via Naomi Osaka’s production company Hana Kuma.

Kyrgios said his manager Stuart Duguid said: “This could be you from now on if you want it to be.”

“That’s a life people wish they had. Even the players on the circuit would love to be doing what I am doing now, but they have a different way of thinking,” Kyrgios wrote.

“They don’t have the global reach that I do. Otherwise, they would be doing it too. Their entire world revolves around playing tennis, and that’s never been me.

“Even over the past week being at Melbourne Park for the Australian Open, I’ve been happy. Of course, there’s a part of me watching on that would love nothing more than to be out there, especially after what I managed to do at Wimbledon 18 months ago in reaching the final against Novak Djokovic.”

12PM: DOKIC’S ‘POWERFUL’ GESTURE AMID ZVEREV DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES

Jelena Dokic’s beautiful moment with Aryna Sabalenka has wowed tennis fans around the world — but there are some suggestions there is a dark truth behind it.

The Aussie tennis hero on Thursday night stole the show with a classy post-match interview with the Belarusian after the No. 2 seed powered through to the women’s final with a win over American Coco Gauff.

The defending champion is the hot favourite to go back-to-back when she faces 12th seed Qinwen Zheng on Saturday, having reached the final without dropping a set all tournament.

Sabalenka had already won the crowd over, but the loudest cheer came when Dokic made a second unusual request.

Following Sabalenka’s fourth round win on Tuesday, Dokic asked for a towel in a light-hearted moment that highlighted how easy it has looked for Sabalenka to blow away all her opponents at Melbourne Park.

“This might be a weird question, last one,” Dokic said.

“You’re winning so easy, you’re barely sweating … I see you’re taking these towels every match, you’ve got at least one more match … so now in front of 15,000 people you need to give me a towel because you’ve got too many.”

Sabalenka happily handed over one of the spare pieces of Australian Open merchandise.

Dokic followed it up on Thursday night by asking for another towel — that came with a classy explanation.

“After your last match … you gave me a towel; they are very precious, everyone wants one, and I said, ‘You are winning so much, you probably have about 20 in your hotel room, so you can give me one — which you were so kind enough to give me’,” Dokic said.

“I’ll take another one, by the way. But what I want to get you to do, if you’re OK with it — can you sign it, because then we will auction it off for kids and women affected by domestic violence, is that OK?”

Sabalenka kindly signed both towels while the crowd erupted in applause.

The 39-year-old former world No. 4 has bravely shared her journey of ongoing recovery from domestic abuse, depression, online abuse and body shaming — inspiring countless fans around the globe.

Dokic revealed the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of her father during her tennis career in her book Unbreakable, released in 2017.

She revealed she suffered regular beatings with a belt or a hard-capped boot, including one incident which saw her knocked unconscious.

It’s why she told viewers on Channel 9 earlier this week about her plan to have Sabalenka sign the towels for charity purposes.

Her campaign has received no official public support from tennis organisations, including Tennis Australia and the Australian Open.

Her move comes at a difficult time for the sport with Alexander Zverev moving through to the semi-finals of the men’s draw following news on the eve of the tournament that he will face trial in Germany over allegations of domestic abuse.

Zverev has repeatedly denied the allegations.

In a long-running saga where the ATP Tour has been criticised over the limited scope of its own 15-month investigation into accusations made against Zverev, the No. 6 seed has been ordered to stand trial, beginning from May 31.

Zverev last year contested a decision from a Berlin court that ordered him to pay a $750,000 fine for allegedly assaulting a woman in May, 2020.

Zverev’s lawyers rejected the accusations in a statement, naming the woman as Brenda Patea, the tennis player’s ex-girlfriend.

The model in 2021 gave birth to a daughter Mayla. She said Zverev is the father of the child. The pair had already split when Patea announced she was 20 weeks pregnant.

Zverev has also strenuously denied claims he violently abused ex-partner and tennis player Olga Sharypova.

It’s why Zverev’s potential run through to the final of the Aussie Open would be a disaster for the tournament and for TV broadcasters around the world— while the accusation before the German court remains unheard.

The Australian Open’s official social media channels have been limited in the number of mentions it has given Zverev, while Channel 9’s light-hearted on-court interview’s with Zverev have made some fans uncomfortable.

After Dokic’s classy moment on Thursday night, many suggested her act was linked to the situation surrounding Zverev — who faces Daniil Medvedev in Friday night’s semi-final.

Sport reporter Molly McElwee from The Telegraph in the UK called Dokic’s act an “important” moment that will be remembered for a long time.

“This is really powerful on a couple of levels,” she said in a video posted on Twitter.

“One, because Dokic herself has already spoken about how she is a survivor of domestic abuse – abuse that she suffered from her father when she was a child and a player on tour.

“It’s also really important that in the context of this tournament Alexander Zverev has gone on a run through to the semi-finals, one of his best run at a major ever. But at the same time last week news broke in May he will be facing a public trial in Germany and facing domestic abuse allegations.

“It’s really interesting that Dokic, of her own initiative and independent of the organisations and organisers of the tournament (decided) to shine a light on domestic violence when one of the biggest stars in the sport is actually facing allegations of domestic violence at the moment.”

Other tennis fans have described it as a “middle finger” for tennis officials.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, is looking to become the first player to go back-to-back at the AO since Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013.

Zheng made relatively short work of Dayana Yastremska in the other semi-final.

Yastremska was looking to make history after becoming the first qualifier to make the semi-finals of the Australian Open since 1978 when Christine Dorey (nee Matison) reached the final four.

But it wasn’t to be for the Ukrainian. Zheng was simply too good.

After entering the top 10 with her quarterfinal win, Zheng will now move up to at least seventh in the world.

She becomes the second ever Chinese tennis player to make a grand slam final and, if she wins, it’ll be on the 10 year anniversary of Li Na’s 2014 Australian Open triumph.

11AM: ‘WOMEN ARE PROPERTY OF MEN’: TENNIS GREATS HATE SAUDI PLAN

Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova criticised Saudi Arabian money flowing into women’s tennis on Thursday in an opinion article published in the Washington Post.

Evert, 69, and Navratilova, 67, each won 18 Grand Slam singles titles in a span from 1974 to 1991 and were among the early stars of the WTA Tour, which was founded in 1973.

They criticised WTA Tour officials considering staging the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia in a joint story headlined: “We did not help build women’s tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia.”

Navratilova and Evert said they poured their hearts into building a tour “founded on equality to empower women in a male-dominated world” but added “That work is now imperilled.”

“WTA Tour officials, without adequate consultation with the players who are the very foundation of the sport, are on the verge of agreeing to stage the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia,” the players wrote. “This is entirely incompatible with the spirit and purpose of women’s tennis and the WTA itself.

“We fully appreciate the importance of respecting diverse cultures and religions. It is because of this, and not despite it, that we oppose the awarding of the tour’s crown jewel tournament to Riyadh.”

Saudi Arabian investments in sport have been criticised as a distraction for the nation’s human rights issues, notably the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) backing of the LIV Golf League.

“The WTA’s values sit in stark contrast to those of the proposed host,” the women’s legends wrote.

“Not only is this a country where women are not seen as equal, it is a country where the current landscape includes a male guardianship law that essentially makes women the property of men. A country which criminalises the LGBTQ community to the point of possible death sentences. A country whose long-term record on human rights and basic freedoms has been a matter of international concern for decades.

“Staging the WTA final there would represent not progress, but significant regression.”

8AM: LLEYTON HEWITT LAUGHS OFF ‘CRISTIANO RONALDO MOMENT’

Lleyton Hewitt’s new statue has been compared to a “17th century pirate” by tennis fans.

The US Open and Wimbledon champion, 42, was presented with the bust at the Australian Open in Melbourne after being inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.

The statue shows Hewitt’s head and shoulders along with his iconic hair and backwards cap.

However, fans are not convinced by the resemblance, or lack of, to the tennis icon.

One fan commented: “Why’ve they made Lleyton a 17th century pirate? This looks nothing like him. Congrats, I guess?”

Another added: “What a shame the bust looks nothing like him.”

A third also fumed: “It doesn’t look anything like him.”

While countryman John Millman took a cheeky jab on social media about the potential for an ugly outcome.

Despite the knocker Hewitt was impressed.

“I reckon they did a pretty good job. I love the hat backwards,” Hewitt said on Channel 9.

“I didn’t see it until I actually unveiled it last night … that was a weird feeling, because you’ve seen some of them in the past gone wrong.

“They did ask for a lot of photos to be taken last year, and I questioned that. I said I’d actually prefer it in my younger days when I was 20 or 21.

“But I’m very happy with it.”

7:00AM: AUS OPEN DOCKS STARS OVER $100K AND COUNTING

Player behaviour has been on point at this year’s Australian Open with just $115,000 collected in fines leading into the semi-finals.

With the absence of bad boys such as Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, a better-behaved Daniil Medvedev and perhaps the replacement of linespeople with Hawkeye it has been the well-behaved grand slam.

That could all change when fierce rivals Medvedev and Alexander Zverev renew hostilities in Friday night’s blockbuster semi-final.

Medvedev was fined $17,000 for a series of offences in his semi-final win two years ago.

Medvedev has picked up only one offence on his way to the final four in 2024 – a $9000 fine for unsportsmanlike behaviour during his marathon second-round win that finished shortly before 4am.

That stands as the largest fine dished out. Smiling Hubert Hurkacz – known as one of the nicest men on tour – received a $7600 fine for an audible obscenity during his loss to Medvedev on Wednesday.

Holger Rune ($7600 for unsportsmanlike conduct) and Tommy Paul ($6000 for abusing his racquet) are the other big-name men’s players to receive be hit in the hip pocket.

Australian Daria Saville copped the biggest fine from the women’s draw. Saville, 29, was sanctioned $7600 for making a visible obscenity during her round-one loss.

Saville still made $173,000 in prizemoney for reaching the first round of the singles and second round of the doubles.

The marquee female players have stayed out of trouble so far. Female players have been collectively stung $40,000 while men have couched up $75,000.

Kyrgios famously received a $171,000 fine for a meltdown in Cincinnati in 2019. He called the chair umpire a “f****** tool” as well as leaving the court without permission to smash two racquets. He returned to the court with the cracked racquets in hand.

At Wimbledon that same year Tomic forfeited all of his prizemoney ($80,000) for a perceived lack of effort during and “not playing up to the required standards” in his first round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Tomic lost in less than an hour, His appeal to have the fine overturned failed.

Originally published as Australian Open day 13: Live scores, all the latest news from Melbourne Park