Massive Demon upset avoided as rival ‘self-destructs’; fellow Aussie cops brutal late start — AO LIVE

Even the Aussie weather was working against Alex de Minaur, but the world No.6 continued his quest for Australian Open history on Wednesday night.

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A cold and wet Melbourne evening played against de Minaur’s speed and fitness advantages over second round opponent Hamad Medjedovic.

The Aussie couldn’t even earn a break point against the world No.90 until midway through the second set, at which point the floodgates opened on route to a 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2 6-1 victory.

The best-of-five format worked in de Minaur’s favour as the powerful Medjedovic was clearly attempting to shorten points and avoid rallies as early as the second set.

Jim Courier quipped on Nine the Serbian was playing “bully ball” as the first set tiebreak narrowly went his way, but Medjedovic’s emotions got the better of him after de Minaur fought hard to hold for 2-2 in the second.

“He has self-destructed, there’s no doubt about that,” Lleyton Hewitt said on commentary.

Rain hit just before the third set got underway forcing a roughly 30-minute delay but that didn’t halt de Minaur’s momentum, winning the first four games of the third set.

It’s the second straight year de Minaur has come from a set down to win an Australian Open match.

He is likely to face American excitement machine and No.29 seed Frances Tiafoe in the third round on Friday.

To finish the night session on centre court, Aussie Priscilla Hon faces promising American teenager Iva Jovic.

‘IT FAILS HALF THE TIME!’ THOMPSON BLOWS UP, THROWS AWAY WIN

Jordan Thompson has been sent out of the Australian Open in the second round at the hands of Portugal’s Nuno Borges for a second straight year.

But this time the Aussie gave up a lead, after winning the first set in an epic tiebreaker but blowing up multiple times on route to a 6-7(9) 6-3 6-2 6-4 loss.

Thompson smashed a ball into the stands and was warned by the chair umpire after being called for repeated foot faults midway through the third set.

It was described as a “moment of madness” by commentator Brenton Speed as former Aussie star John Millman added: “It probably cost him the break”.

He argued with the chair umpire about the foot faults, asking for replays and saying: “The system fails half of the time … it’s not much to ask for.”

Thompson then quickly dropped the set on route to defeat.

NIGHT 4 PREVIEW

Aussie pair Alex de Minaur and Priscilla Hon are the headline acts on night four at the Australian Open, both featuring on Rod Laver Arena.

De Minaur, the No.6 seed, will look to continue his perfect record against players ranked lower than him at his home slam as he faces Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic.

De Minaur has never faced the world No.90 before and is eyeing a likely third-round match-up with American excitement machine Frances Tiafoe.

In the quarter-finals world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz likely awaits, with both men seeking their first ever Australian Open semi-final place.

Nine expert commentator John McEnroe didn’t realise de Minaur was in Alcaraz’s quarter when pumping up the Aussie on Wednesday night.

“Oh, boy. Well, yeah,” he responded when learning of the match-up live.

“You know, I admire the the tenacity of Alex de Minaur, and I admire the fact that he’s done so many different things to try to get better. But that’s a big ask if he’s going to play Carlos.”

Meanwhile Hon is looking to make it back-to-back grand slam third round appearances, after an unlikely run to the last 32 at the US Open.

The 27-year-old reached a career-high of world No.95 late last year and has already matched her career best with this second-round appearance at Melbourne Park.

But Hon will need to upset promising American 18-year-old Iva Jovic, the 29th seed, tonight to advance.

Also this evening Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic faces Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse trying to end a painful drought.

The 32-year-old has lost her previous six second-round matches at the Australian Open, but has made at least the fourth round of every other slam.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN NIGHT 4 ORDER OF PLAY

Men’s and Women’s Singles second round