Australian Open 2026: De Minaur sets up Alcaraz clash, Svitolina beats Andreeva – as it happened

Coming up tomorrow, in the remaining fourth-round matches, the action starts on Rod Laver with the battle of the friends and podcast hosts, Jessica Pegula v Madison Keys, and then it’s Taylor Fritz v Lorenzo Musetti. On Margaret Court, Elena Rybakina plays Elise Mertens and Jannik Sinner meets his fellow Italian Luciano Darderi. In the Rod Laver evening session it’ll be the biggest night of the Australian qualifier Madison Inglis’s life as she takes on Iga Swiatek, before Ben Shelton v Casper Ruud. Novak Djokovic gets a walkover after his opponent Jakub Mensik withdraw today because of injury. Do join us again for live coverage, reports and reaction, but that’s it from me on day eight

Carlos Alcaraz serves up lesson with Australian Open dismissal of Paul

Carlos Alcaraz spent the final 52 minutes of his fourth-round match at the Australian Open chasing down his prey, determined to convert his two-set lead into a straightforward win against Tommy Paul.As he worked hard to secure the decisive break in set three, Alcaraz put together a flawless serving performance. He won 86% of his first serve points in the set, landing 76% of his first serves. He did not even come close to facing a break point, losing just five service points in total. Alcaraz, the world No 1, closed out his 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 win over the 19th seed Paul with an unreturned serve

‘He’s taken his punishment’: Root lauds Brook after England’s win in Sri Lanka

Joe Root has lavished praise on Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum after the pair celebrated their first one‑day international victory abroad while in charge of England’s white-ball teams.Root’s 75 was the guiding hand in England’s five-wicket win against Sri Lanka on Saturday, ending a losing sequence away from home that began in November 2024. McCullum began his reign as all-format head coach two months later in India before Brook ascended to the limited‑overs captaincy in April. Both have been scrutinised in recent weeks: McCullum’s future has been questioned after England’s defeat in the Ashes, while Brook has apologised for clashing with a nightclub bouncer on the eve of the third ODI against New Zealand at the start of the winter.Regarding the Brook incident, Root said: “He’s apologised, he’s taken his punishment and he’s desperate to take this team forward

Van Poortvliet leads way before limping off as maddening Harlequins flop again | Michael Aylwin

English rugby long ago gave up trying to explain the phenomenon that is Harlequins. Quantum physicists would struggle. Two weeks ago here, we watched this same team put 60 past the thitherto unbeaten Stormers from South Africa on the way to qualifying from the Champions Cup group stage, a competition for the best domestic sides in Europe and, as if that were not enough, South Africa, a land of frightening beasts and double World Cup-winners.This is the same team that won in La Rochelle only last weekend to clinch that home tie in the last 16. Ridiculously, it was Quins’ win against all odds on the west coast of France that afforded Leicester last-gasp entrance by default into that very same elite of the elite

Alcaraz beats Paul and Sabalenka defeats brave Mboko as top seeds march into quarter-finals – as it happened

We will leave it there for today’s live coverage of the day session at Melbourne Park. Thank you for joining me this afternoon.We’ll have another liveblog happening for this evening’s session, as rivals Alex de Minaur and Alexander Bublik meet on Rod Laver before Elina Svitolina v Mirra Andreeva.Enjoy the rest of your day and I’ll see you next time.Meanwhile on Margaret Court Arena, third seed Coco Gauff is battling it out with 19th seed Karolína Muchová in a see-sawing clash

Sydney Swans player Taylor Adams knocked unconscious in incident outside popular venue

The Sydney Swans midfielder Taylor Adams was taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious in an incident outside a popular club on Saturday night.The 32-year-old Adams was allegedly assaulted after an argument with two men at a venue in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, New South Wales police said.Police were called to a licensed venue on Vickery Avenue in the harbourside suburb of Rose Bay just after 10pm after the incident.Adams had lost consciousness briefly and sustained a small cut to his cheek after allegedly being knocked to the ground by one man.He was attended to by NSW paramedics and taken to St Vincent’s hospital for further treatment and assessment