Australian Open: Osaka out after thriller, Barty cruises and Nadal wins – as it happened

Below you will find today’s stories and videos from the Australian Open. That’s all from me. Thanks for reading. See you soon for more.

QUIZ!

The match schedule for tomorrow can be seen here on the official Australian Open website.

In the women’s singles, three matches to look out for are Vondrousova v Sabalenka, Swiatek v Kasatkina and Halep v Kovinic.

Paire v Tsitsipas, Rublev v Cilic and Britain’s Dan Evans v Felix Auger-Aliassime are three choice ties in the men’s singles.

“I’m not God. I can’t win every match.”

Naomi Osaka with a dose of perspective after her defeat by Amanda Anisimova:

Mannarino speaks and answers the first question as follows: “I didn’t listen, sorry.”

Yes, he really is that tired.

The interviewer has another go and he responds: “I was enjoying it. The ride was fun. I was feeling in shape today. It was pretty cool to play ... I was looking at the clock sometimes, and I was like: “Fuck!”

“I don’t feel good ... I’m exhausted right now. As I say, it was cool. I was so focused on what I had to do, I was not thinking about the fact I was tired.

“The crowd was cool, they had a couple of drinks I guess, and they were commentating more than anybody.”

(This brings a big cheer from a couple of people in the stands.)

Mannarino looks and sounds utterly knackered. Which, let’s face it, is perfectly understandable. A massive effort is rewarded with his first fourth-round match at the Australian Open. Respect to Aslan Karatsev, too, who fought through the pain of what looked like a hamstring problem later in the match. A belter of a contest to round off day five. And it’s 2.40am in Melbourne right now.

Mannarino eases to 30-0 then limply finds the net with a forehand. No worries: next up, he belts an ace down and wins two match points. Karatsev saves the first one ... but then nets on the next rally, a typically punishing one, and Mannarino has done it! Four hours and 38 minutes of relentless action. Hats off to both players.

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*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 5-4 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

The Frenchman will serve for the match.

Christelle emails to point out that Mannarino has in fact reached the fourth round of a slam - he’s done it three times at Wimbledon. That’ll teach me to trust the commentators’ facts and stats. I guess they must have meant to say he’s never done it at the Australian Open.

Correct me if I’m wrong but Lleyton Hewitt’s 2008 Australian Open clash with Marcos Baghdatis, which lasted until the ludicrous time of 4.34am, is the latest-ever finish at any grand slam tournament.

Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 5-3 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Karatsev looks a little more sprightly now. He moves to 15-30 before an unforced error gives Mannarino 30-30 and the Frenchman smacks an ace out wide for 40-30, his ninth of the match ... however, another error by Mannarino means it’s back to deuce. And another error by Mannarino, who has the finish line in sight, but nets a forehand to hand Karatsev the advantage. The Russian misguides a forehand on the next point, however, so it’s back to deuce, and the Frenchman then comprehensively wrong-foots his opponent to win the advantage back. Karatsev won’t roll over though and a clean winner means we’re back to deuce. This is captivating and draining in equal measure. Needless to say Karatsev wins the advantage, but then misses on the next point, finding the net and sending it back to deuce ... the seemingly endless back-and-forth of deuces and advantages goes on before Mannarino digs out two big serves and finally moves to within a game of progress.

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Mannarino, the commentators tell us, has never before reached the fourth round of a grand slam event. That feels surprising, but there it is.

The match timer is now at 4 hours and 17 minutes.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 4-3 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Karatsev begins the game by opting to leave a ball which bounces on the baseline and hands Mannarino the first point. Mannarino goes on to fashion a break point, but the Russian fires back, continuing to take on his shots and go for the corners. Karatsev crashes a volley into the net to give the Frenchman a third shot at a double break ... but he nets a forehand and it’s back to deuce.

Karatsev edges to the advantage, but Mannarino fires a stunning double-handed backhand down the line to force it back to deuce ... this is exhausting! Mannarino nabs another break point as Karatsev hits long, but he then puts an attempted drop shot into the net and we’re back to deuce ... Karatsev smashes down his 15th ace of the night, and finally seals the game.

Tumaini Carayol reports on Carlos Alcaraz’s gallant defeat by Matteo Berrettini earlier today:

Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 4-2 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino races to another hold. This next game should tell us plenty about Karatsev’s condition ...

Karatsev trudges back out on to the court to receive Mannarino’s serve.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 3-2 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Huge! The 33-year-old Frenchman battles his way to another break of serve. Karatsev takes a medical timeout and gets some attention from the physio, and explains the pain he’s feeling in his leg. It looks like a hamstring problem ... Meanwhile the match timer clicks around to four hours. It’s 1.55am in Melbourne!

Mannarino sits in his seat, fidgeting, looking across to Karatsev. He looks fresh and ready to go. Has he finally worn his opponent down?

Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 2-2 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino races to another service hold, in contrast to Karatsev’s previous service game, in which he saved four break points.

Karatsev is pictured holding the back of his right thigh, but appears to be moving reasonably well.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 1-2 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino forces it to 0-40 on the Russian’s serve. Karatsev, as you’d expect in this ding-dong affair, roars back to deuce, the last point in that sequence being a sweet ace down the middle. There’s something about this match which means that both players are producing a fine level of tennis, but neither is intimidated by the other, neither player tightens up when they find themselves (for instance) 0-40 down on their own serve. They keep on taking their shots. It’s making for a great encounter which deserves a bigger crowd in the arena. I guess that’s compensated by the fact that tennis fans across the world will be glued to this.

Karatsev, as stated, hits back from 0-40 down and holds to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 1-1 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino responds with a quick service hold to 15.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 0-1 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

The Russian holds serve at the start of the fourth.

Neither of these two are household names, sure, but they are producing a consistently high level, and as the scoreboard suggests, their styles are incredibly evenly matched. Karatsev botches a break point to force a tiebreak ... and Mannarino, tenaciously staying in every point, hits back and closes out the set with a wonderful down-the-line forehand winner.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 6-5 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

The Frenchman breaks again! Karatsev hits wide at the end of another well-matched rally, and Mannarino, looking full of energy and running after more than three hours – nearly three and a half hours in fact – jogs to his chair for a drink and a bite to eat.

The auditorium DJ cranks out a blast of Wham!, probably to keep himself awake, let alone the crowd. Perhaps needless to say there aren’t many spectators in at this time of night but there are a handful.

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Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 5-5 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino falls 0-30 down, but produces a succession of booming serves to hold on. We’re all square.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 4-5 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino must serve to stay in the third set.

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 3-4 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

A break of serve for each player, and we move relentlessly deeper into this third set on Margaret Court Arena.

The world No 6 Andrey Rublev’s hopes of a maiden Grand Slam title will face a stern test in the form of the seasoned Marin Cilic at the Australian Open on Saturday, with the big Croatian looking to challenge for major honours again.

Rublev was barely troubled in the opening two rounds, but the Russian may have to raise his game against former US Open champion Cilic, who reached the final at Melbourne Park four years ago. Rublev, however, will take confidence from his recent performances against Cilic, having comfortably come out on top in their last four meetings.

The ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime could be a potential opponent for Rublev if the Canadian comes out unscathed against Britain’s Dan Evans, while world No 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Benoît Paire following the Frenchman’s surprise win over Grigor Dimitrov. Both the men’s and women’s second seeds are also in action as Daniil Medvedev plays Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, and Aryna Sabalenka, whose campaign so far has been plagued by service woes, faces 31st seed Marketa Vondrousova.

Former French Open winners Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek are the other big guns who will take the court on Saturday, with Danka Kovinic and Daria Kasatkina standing in their respective ways for a place in the fourth round. (Reuters)

Eurosport are having a chat with John McEnroe, via Zoom, and they also just spoke to Alexander Zverev. The Mannarino v Karatsev match is live on the app, so the production crew (or some of them at least) in Melbourne are pulling a late one.

If you need some football news in your life, Barry Glendenning’s got the weekend football countdown right here – live!

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 2-3 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Mannarino breaks straight back! At deuce on Karatsev’s serve, the two players indulge in another rally of searing groundstrokes ... Karatsev cracks first, and sends a backhand wide, and Mannarino closes out the game to strike back at the earliest opportunity.

Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 1-3 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

Karatsev breaks! He forges a two-game lead in the third. Mannarino may be the lower-ranked player but these two look very evenly matched overall.

“I would definitely say I’m proud of myself for this,” Naomi Osaka said of her defeat against Amanda Anisimova. “I was really focused throughout the entire match, and I didn’t have a dip. So that’s really good. Hopefully as the season continues, I’ll be able to keep this up, and get even better at it.”

“I fought for every point. I can’t be sad about that,” Osaka said, adding that she was yet to decide on her schedule before the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells in March.

“I’m not God! I can’t win every match. The last match that I played in New York I think I had a completely different attitude. Of course I lost [today], but I’m happy with how it went. I just want to go into this year knowing that I’ll play the whole year and I’ll just have the greatest attitude ever.” (Quotes via Reuters)

*Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 1-2 Karatsev (*denotes next server)

The Russian, who was born in Vladikavkaz, edges back ahead in the third set.

The time approaches 1am in Melbourne. How many of you are reading this in Australia, and are you planning to hit the sack soon? You can email me here and let me know if you like.

The American Amanda Anisimova praised Naomi Osaka for her authenticity after knocking her out of the Australian Open, saying it was “inspiring” to see the Japanese player speaking out on mental health issues. Osaka withdrew from last year’s French Open after being fined and threatened with expulsion for refusing to do media duties, which she said had contributed to the depression she had struggled with for years.

The four-times Grand Slam champion, who also skipped Wimbledon in 2021, exited the Australian Open on Thursday as Anisimova recorded a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (10-5) win in the third round. “I think she’s really inspiring. What she’s done the last couple of years is amazing, and just how authentic she is,” Anisimova said. “It was really cool to finally play her today.

“She just tells the truth about how she feels. I know she’s gone through a really tough year last year, so I kind of feel for her today. I’ve gone through a couple of hard years, and I don’t mind posting stuff on social media and just try to spread awareness for people who are also going through tough things. I think it’s great to be relatable to other people who follow us.”

The American reached a career-high ranking of 21 in 2019, but has struggled in recent years, falling to her current ranking of 60th. “Yeah, last year was a huge struggle for me,” Anisimova said. “Sometimes you doubt it, like what if I get injured and I’ll never be able to play in a Grand Slam again? Yeah, last year was just not great, all my results I wasn’t happy with.

“I’m just really happy that I had a great pre-season with my team. They’ve done incredible work with me. So it’s also really important, the people that you surround yourself with, and that’s what really helped me after this past year.”

Anisimova will play Australian world No 1 Ash Barty in the fourth round, to whom she lost in the semi-finals of the French Open in 2019. (Reuters)

Mannarino 7-6, 6-7, 1-1 *Karatsev (*denotes next server)

So, in the final match of a very long day, which is taking place on Margaret Court Arena, Karatsev took a 14-minute service game at the start of the third set, only for Mannarino to hold his own serve with ease. It’s all square on the scoreboard but Mannarino is in the ascendancy.

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Here’s the report, from a little earlier, of Naomi Osaka’s shock loss against the world No 60 Amanda Anisimova:

Khachanov waves, and receives a warm ovation from the crowd, as he leaves the court.

And now Rafa has a chat: “Of course, it’s a very special week for me, coming back from where I’m coming, every single time I’m able to play here is just a very special thing ... tonight I played against a good player and a good friend on tour ... that was the best match I’ve played since I came back [from injury] ... I wish him all the very best for the season, I wish him well.

“In the past year and a half I have been going through some very tough times ... but nights like tonight give me a lot of energy ... that’s something to put in my pocket ... it means everything, I’m super happy, thank you very much everybody.

“People here in Australia appreciate sport in general ... thank you to Tennis Australia for all the support we receive during our careers.”

Ended with an ace and a love hold. What a player, what a performance, what a ... something else! Could this be Nadal’s year? He looks incredibly together, incredibly focused, with everything operating at maximum level.

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Khachanov 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 1-5 *Nadal (*denotes next server)

On Rod Laver Arena, meanwhile, Khachanov unloads a couple of sensationally powerful groundstrokes to take it to 30-30 on his own serve. But Nadal stamps on his opponent immediately, cracking a forehand to the corner which Khachanov can only stand and admire, and then winning the double break with a frankly ludicrous passing shot. 5-1 and Nadal is serving for the match.