Australian Open 2025: Medvedev v Tien; Sinner and Paolini power through – live

Medvedev plays the daintiest of drop shots to go 30-0 up. It just creeped over the net by this much. Experience shows as Medvedev closes out the game to love in no time at all. 5-5 in the third. On we/they go!

Tien has found another gear as the match nears the nitty gritty. A confident service game sees Tien pulls Medvedev from corner to corner like a master-puppeteer and goes to within one game of dumping the number five seed and 2021, 2022 and 2024 Aussie open finalist out in the second round!

Both players feeling the tension now, unforced errors creeping up as it goes to 30-30. Foot fault! Another one! Medvedev’s size 13s overstepping and being called by the technology. If looks could kill… TIEN BREAKS BACK! Remarkable. Medvedev tightens right up on the break point and shanks a backhand well long of the baseline. The teenager bloodies the nose of the big man and we’re back on serve at 4-4!

Tien has a habit of breaking right back after being broken, can he dig deep here? Medvedev is 4-3 up and has a service game to get him within touching distance of this crucial third set.

Tien is still serving languidly and hurtling along the baseline and across the court like a… well like a 19 year old. Medvedev is making him work harder for his points now though, sensing now could be the time. Not to be, Tien hollers a “Let’s go” for good measure as he saves a break point with a big first serve.

Crikey! An amazing rally sees Medvedev throwing himself around at the net like a lanky Becker as Tien throws the kitchen sink, kettle and toaster at him in an attempt to pass… BIG MISS! Tien goes too long with the court wide open and is then BROKEN as another unforced error flies into the tramline off his forehand. Medvedev has his chance, can he consolidate?

The clock ticks past 2.20am local time and the commentators debate the cut off time, would it be better for both players to come back in the morning? For Medvedev probably, he’s on the ropes. Not teenage Tien though, he wants to finish this game and chalk up the biggest win of his career tonight. He’s playing some delicious tennis, peeling off an inch perfect lob to take his opponent to 30-30… Medvedev shows his class with a sonic-booming second serve followed by a deft pick up on the backhand by his toes to take the game when he was feeling the heat. 3-3! Who’s gonna blink first in the third?

Now then, Tien sends down his fourth double of the match to go 0-30 down… pressure what pressure? Two big serves get the youngster back to 30-30 all. Break Point! Tien shonks a forehand into the net post to give Medvedev a sniff but then raises his game immediately with a winner down the line. Oh to be young. Tien holds his nerve and takes the game by foxing his big opponent with a well placed serve out wide. Medvedev had his feet in cement and heads to his chair trailing 3-2 and by two sets to love.

Thing is, if Tien serves well there’s not that much Medvedev can do … but as I type, he shanks a swing-volley that means deuce. No matter! Yet another winner down the line – and on to the line – raises advantage, and from there he serves out! Thien leads 2-1 2-1 and that’s me off for a break; here’s Jim Wallace to … call him home?!

And Medvedev holds to love, trailing 2-0 1-1. I wonder if he’ll play more aggressively now.

A really slack game from Medvedev, who doesn’t appear to have got what he needed from the khazi. Tien holds easily and quickly, to 15, and this next game will be very interesting.

Learner Tien, though. What I’m most enjoying about him, so far, is his tennis brain: Medvedev doesn’t know quite what to do with him, because of how well he varies pace and angle … before pasting a winner down the line.

Medvedev nips out for a bathroom break. Given his demeanour, I fear for the porcelain.

I say that because it does seem like Medvedev is looking to let rallies play out rather than end them. But it’s also the case that Tien is giving him almost nothing with which to work, pushing him back, unexpectedly and intelligently upping the pace, and showing great hands and imagination at the net. We’re witnessing something here, mates, as we did the other night when Fonseca thrashed Rublev.

Oh my complete and utter absolute days! Learner Tien learns fast! He again gives as good as he gets in the rally, but the second he sots Medvedev coming in, he sets to unleash a glooorious forehand pass down the line! He loves those shots of both wings, he leads 6-3 7-6(4), and the no 5 seed seems to have gambled an awful lot on a younger athlete in peak condition getting tired before he does.

Tien makes 5-4 then again is the man left standing at the end of a brutal rally! He leads 6-4 and has two points for 2-0!

Eeesh, Medvedev is called for a foot-fault double – I’m not sure i’ve ever seen one of those! – which should improve his mood, then a fantastic point from Tien, a big backhand backed up by forehands, makes 4-2. As you might imagine, Medvedev has some words for the umpire at change of ends, but he’s work to do on court, playing a much better point to bring us back o to serve at 4-3 Thien. This is both tense and intense, another immersive trip into joy and pain, and as I type Tien smacks a forehand into the net-post when there was room for a winner; 4-4.

Another sapping stinker of a rally, 45 shots all told, and it’s Medvedev who errs, dropping long. But he then snatches back the mini-break, upping the forehand power and coming in to put away a volley.

Tien nets when Mevedev pushes him back, then again when caught by an excellent lob, and a ball on to the paint forces him to stray wide. Three break-back points, and though the first is saved, another shot into the net means it’s a breaker. That’s probably the best game Medvedev has played all match, and what happens next might just be decisive … Tien landing the first blow when a long forehand hands him a mini-break at 1-0! what an absorbing, intense, unusual set (of tennis) this has been – and still is!

Medvedev opts to let the 30-40 rally happen, leaves a space on the backhand side, and Tien finds it with maximum prejudice, pasting a backhand winner down the line. He’ll now serve for a two-set lead at 6-3 6-5, and this is fantastic stuff.

Jasmine Paolini (4) beats Renata Zarazua 6-2 6-3

Learner Tien! Very quickly, he makes 0-40, break-point seized with more net excellence. His all-round game is so mature, likewise his tennis brain and general demeanour, but Medvedev ups it to make 30-40. Big moments coming…

No one can play at their best for the entirety of a five-set match and Tien has dropped. What he needs to do, though, is keep focused, not do anything silly, and make sure he gets to 6-6. And as I type, he ends another long rally with a mahoosive forehand, Medvedev again curiously shot-shy. He might be looking to wear his opponent down, but if he goes 2-0 down in the process, will it be worth it? Tien holds for 5-5, and it feels like the match is right here, in the denouement to this set. Meantime, Paolini breaks again so is now serving for the match against Zarazua at 6-2 5-3.

Oh, Zarazua breaks Paolini back to trail 2-6 3-4, while Tien has unwittingly popped his bubble, down 0-40. He responds with an ace, then outlasts an increasingly irascible Medvedev in another longer rally … only to respond to fine return with a netted forehand. That’s our sixth break in eight games this set, and a lesson for Learner: in professional sport you’re never cruising, all the more so when on the other side of the court is one of the most stubborn men in the world.

Learner Tien is amazing! Medvedev plays a lovely drop, with disguise, which Tien chases down, and he calmly directs his man about the net, in total control, before a winner makes break point … and then a delectable, audacious, perfect lob bounces just inside the baseline! Tien breaks for the third time in a row and leads 6-3 4-3, while Medvede frisbees his racket into the barrier behind him. I pontificated on Tuesday, while Fonseca was diddling Rublev, at the joy of watching a proper talent announce itself to the world, and this too is that.

Medvedev makes 0-30 on the Tien serve but it’s soon 30-all and an ace follows, his fifth of the match. Then a big first serve zooms down the T, and a sizeable forehand secures a sizeable hold. Tien leads 6-3 3-3 and as well as ending points quickly with power, he’s also winning a lot of the longer ones and is one of few able to outrun the no 5 seed. Which is to say Medvedev has a problem.

Paolini breaks Zarazua again to lead 6-2 3-1; it’s a matter of when not if.

Medvedev just can’t get it going! Tien breaks him back again and, like Fonseca, he’s got learning – geddit? – and improving to do, but he’s already a really, really good player.

Tien loses focus and Medvedev is waiting for precisely that eventuality, breaking to 15. A hold here and he’ll feel he’s seized back control of things, but Tien isn’t the sort to just allow that.

Paolini breaks Zarazua at the first time of asking in set two. She leads 6-2 2-0 … but as I type, Zarazua breaks back. She’s still in the match.

Of course, as I type, Tien makes 0-30, then Medvedev goes wide on the backhand and here come three break-back points. The first is saved, but the second? Forget about it! I’m especially enjoying Tien’s sudden increases in pace and it’s those which dominate another long rally, Medvedev allowing him to dictate. Perhaps he’s wearing him down, hoping to beat him over the stretch, but he’ll not want to do that from two sets behind, and Tien is still bouncing about the court. The youngster leads 6-3 1-2.

Medvedev is taking it a little earlier now, I think, and after holding for 1-0 earns a break point at advantage then Tien tamely nets a backhand. He’s cooled a little, which makes sense: he’s not used to the undulations of five-set matches and isn’t ready to maintain his best level for as long as one lasts. The question is whether he can play well enough when he dips, or rediscover close to his best when he’s tired.

Yeah, Paolini is too good for Zarazua, breaking again fo ra 6-2 set. There’s work to do, of course, but it’s hard not to salivate at the thought of a third-round tussle with Elina Svitolina.

I was wondering if Learner was the latest wrinkle in the American surname-as-firstname tick; not so! He’s named after his mum’s profession – she’s a maths teacher – while his sister is called Justice because his dad’s an attorney. I love that! What a great reminder to do the right things.

Tien rushes to 30-0 and has got Medvedev down, while Medvedev is yet to work him out. 40-0 soon come, then a ninja-star of a forehand down the line and into the corner seals the set! In particular, he’s victimising Medvedev’s second serve, and the number five seed needs to come up with something because his usual method isn’t working.

And have a look! Back at deuce, Tien almost toys with Medvedev, softening him up with forehands before bringing him in then waiting at the exact spot the pick-up lands to deflect a winner down the line for advantage! Medvedev, though, quickly regains deuce … but not for long, Tien tucking right into a second serve and lashing a backhand winner down the line. I’m sure he has a weak point, but going on what we’ve seen so far it’s not obvious, and another forehand to the corner elicits the error! From a break down, Tien has won four games in a row and will now serve for the set at 5-3! He’s dictating! Sorry, dictating.

Paolini breaks Zarazua then consolidates for 4-1, and her forehand has taken over this match; meantime, Medvedev doubles so now serves at 3-4 and deuce. Tien is in the ascendancy here, but must capitalise because it’s unlikely he’s ready to sustain this level across five sets. For now, though, he’s playing beautifully.

Superb hitting from Tien, forced to unleash a succession of big shots to win a single point, makes 30-all from 0-30. You can see his tennis IQ is serious – his shot-selection is, at least to untrained eye, excellent, and after suddenly upping the power on a forehand, a backpeddling overhead is splattered over the net and he now leads 4-3. Might he have Medvedev’s timing down?

Now then! Tien forces break-back point, into the match now, and two terrific forehands, one into each corner seal the deal! We’re back on serve at 3-3 in the first while, on Court, Paolini and Zarazua swapped breaks before a hold gave the former a 2-1 advantage.

The crowd jeer Collins, who says she and Coco Wandeweghe, her doubles partner, love an expensive vacation and during the match she was thinking about spending some of the money she was earning on that. As for the next round, she notes that she and Madison Keys used to be pen pals, which is a lovely detail.

The interview is then cut short, given the tone of things, so she takes the mic and finishes with a cheery “Love ya!”, but really I don’t know. On the one hand, she was playing an Aussie in Australia, what did she expect – and most seem to enjoy it; on the other, she beat an Aussie in Australia, the crowd oiught to be able to take a bit back if they’ve spent two hours giving it out.

Danielle Collins (10) beats Destanee Aiava 7-6(4) 4-6 6-2

…and Aiava comes in so Collins looks to pass … only to net. To deuce they and we go.

Aiava’s mum, by the way, is a former kickboxer who played rugby union for Australia, while her dad was a powerlifter. But as I type, she finds herself 30-40 and match-point down…