Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will all be on show during day eight of the Australian Open.Stay across all the action from day eight at Melbourne Park in our live blog below and check out our ScoreCentre for the full draw and schedule.Key Events Sabalenka makes light work of opening set against Andreeva 10 minutes ago Live: Aryna Sabalenka vs Mirra Andreeva on Rod Laver Arena 33 minutes ago Can Mirra Andreeva spring an upset and end Aryna Sabalenka's stunning run? 51 minutes ago Show all key events Key matches on day eight of the Australian Open J By Jon Healy Aussies in action: Kim Birrell/John-Patrick Smith (WC) vs Demi Schuurs/Tim Pütz (7) fourth on 1573 Arenavs Demi Schuurs/Tim Pütz (7) fourth on 1573 Arena Luke Saville/Li Tu (WC) vs André Göransson/Sem Verbeek last on Rod Laver Arena Centre court matches: Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Mirra Andreeva (14) from 11:30am on Rod Laver ArenaAryna Sabalenka (1) vs Mirra Andreeva (14) from 11:30am on Rod Laver Arena Coco Gauff (3) vs Belinda Bencic second on Rod Laver ArenaCoco Gauff (3) vs Belinda Bencic second on Rod Laver Arena Jack Draper (15) vs Carlos Alcaraz (3) not before 3:30pm on Rod Laver ArenaJack Draper (15) vs Carlos Alcaraz (3) not before 3:30pm on Rod Laver Arena Novak Djokovic (7) vs Jiří Lehečka (24) not before 7pm on Rod Laver Arena Pure class from Sabalenka J By Jon Healy Mirra Andreeva holds serve to start the second set and immediately attacks the Sabalenka serve, ripping successive return winners to jump out to 0-30. But the world number one recovers with a booming ace, mixing in some baseline power and a beautiful drop shot that curls and spins away from the sprinting teenager to win four straight points and ensure she doesn't drop the second game of the set. Sabalenka makes light work of opening set against Andreeva M By Marnie Vinall Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand against Mirra Andreeva. (Getty) Aryna Sabalenka has continued her impressive form at the Australian Open with a dominant first set against teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva. The two-time defending champion claims the opening set 6-1. It started off well for 17-year-old Andreeva, after the pair went game for game. But she couldn't recover after being broken early. After the first set wrapped up in well under 30 minutes, we could be in for a very early finish here. Aryna Sabalenka takes the first set J By Jon Healy This has been a dominant set for the world number one and she's just blowing Mirra Andreeva off the court. Aryna Sabalenka breaks Andreeva for the second time and, after just 24 minutes, takes the opening set 6-1. Andreeva isn't playing terribly, but Sabalenka is just in full-on beast mode. Around the courts J By Jon Healy There are four young Australians on court at the moment. In the girls' singles, 16-year-old Tahlia Kokkinis is a wildcard and has taken the first set off 10th seed Rositsa Dencheva 6-3. Fellow wildcard Koharu Nishikawa lost her first to third seed Jeline Vandromme. On Court 3, 15-year-old Jeffrey Strydom has dropped the first set to South Korea's Yeosu Jeong. Meanwhile, Duje Markovina has also lost the first set 6-4 to Japanese qualifier Hyu Kawanishi. Sabalenka gets the first break of the match J By Jon Healy (Getty) Aryna Sabalenka is drilling her returns deep and rushing Mirra Andreeva, who's trying to respond in kind and is sending hers too long, racking up the errors to drop her serve and fall behind 3-1, which becomes 4-1 as Sabalenka holds. Both players have had to pause at the start of their past two service games to wait for people to shuffle into their seats right in the front row. The wait goes on for the returner to win a point J By Jon Healy Three games in and that's three straight holds to love from Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva. (AP) It looked for all money like Sabalenka had dropped the second point of that third game as Andreeva peppered her backhand into Sabalenka's forehand corner, but the computer said her bunted return landed in. Sabalenka was already turning to go get her towel, assuming it was wide. It apparently caught the outside of the line and she followed up with a forehand winner back into that same corner. Sabalenka loosey goosey J By Jon Healy If world number one Aryna Sabalenka was nervous before the match, she wasn't showing it. She looks pretty relaxed on court too as she tears through a service hold to love in the first game of the match. Live: Aryna Sabalenka vs Mirra Andreeva on Rod Laver Arena J By Jon Healy Top seed and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka puts her near-perfect Australian Open record on the line against Russian 17-year-old and 14th seed Mirra Andreeva in this fourth-round blockbuster. Danielle Collins's run comes to an end J By Jon Healy DC can say she doesn’t care what people think about her, but she was a lot less provocative last night, seemed like she’d been humbled - Alex The number one villain of this tournament is gone, with Danielle Collins beaten by compatriot Madison Keys last night. Fair to say it's easier to smile and laugh when you're winning. Chris De Silva was at Rod Laver Arena for the circus. Collins glad 'nobody got hurt' after being booed out of Australian Open Sabalenka and Andreeva get underway on Rod Laver Arena M By Marnie Vinall Two-time defending Aus Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has kicked off Day 8 of the tournament against teenager sensation Mirra Andreeva on Rod Laver Arena. Sabalenka hasn't dropped a set yet at Melbourne Park and has won 27 of her past 28 matches on hard courts at majors. It's a tough ask for 17-year-old Andreeva to come up against her in the third round. But the teen last year stunned the tennis world when she took out top 10 player Ons Jabeur in round one in straight sets. When asked how she feels about coming up against the number one seed today, Andreeva said: “Honestly, I'm so tired to play against her… It's a lot. So what can I say? Here we are again.” It's their fifth meeting since the beginning of 2023. Can Mirra Andreeva spring an upset and end Aryna Sabalenka's stunning run? J By Jon Healy Mirra Andreeva (left) beat Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open last year. (Getty) On today's ABC Tennis Podcast, John Millman says Mirra Andreeva is "a very tough match-up" for world number one Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka has only lost one set in her past 17 matches at the Australian Open but was pushed into a tiebreak by Clara Tauson in the third round and is facing 17-year-old Andreeva, who challenged her at the Brisbane International a couple of weeks ago. "It was straight sets [to Sabalenka] but that first set, to my eye, Mirra was the better player for most of it. She just couldn't convert those break point opportunities," Millman said. "That's gonna be a fun one today and I hope we see the best version of Andreeva because if we do, I'm not calling an upset, but she might give the top seed a scare. John Alexander, reluctantly, picked Andreeva for an upset. "It's a very awkward match for Sabalenka, very awkward." No sponsor, no problem for Aussie qualifier J By Jon Healy If you thought some of Destanee Aiava's on-court looks were familiar, you'd be right. The world number 195 is without an apparel sponsor and thrifted her kit online, emulating outfits worn by former Australian Open champions Caroline Wozniacki and maria Sharapova, which even caught the eye of Vogue. "I just loved what [Wozniacki and Sharapova] wore," Aiava told BBC Sport, adding she prefers older designs compared to what is in stores now. "I didn't really think it would make any impact at all, me wearing the dresses. But I'm glad I did. It's been fun bringing them back," she added. "I think even if you lose, it's still kind of a fashion runway when you're on the court." How one Australian Open player made headlines with her vintage fashion Here are all today's singles matches J By Jon Healy ICYMI: Here's what happened on day seven J By Jon Healy It started with a stirring win by Alex de Minaur and ended with public enemy number one Danielle Collins being sent packing. Elsewhere, grand slam champions Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner coasted through, while husband and wife Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina advanced into the fourth round together for the first time in six years. Check it all out in yesterday's blog. Collins booed then sent packing from Australian Open We're into the pointy end of the Australian Open J By Jon Healy (AP) It's day eight at Melbourne Park and that means we're approaching the halfway mark of the Australian Open. The men's and women's singles fourth rounds start today, with top seed and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka up first on Rod Laver Arena against 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva. Let's get into it!
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