MELBOURNE: The heat wasn’t a factor for Rafael Nadal this time against Damir Dzumhur, despite the searing temperature causing trouble for players earlier Friday at the Australian Open.
Nadal reached the fourth round in Australia for the 11th time with the 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 win, and leveled his career head-to-head record with Dzumhur.
The 16-time major winner lost their only previous meeting when he had to retire because of heat-related issues in the third set at Miami in 2016, giving Dzumhur the win that day.
It was also a change of scenery for Nadal, who was playing on Margaret Court Arena — the No. 2 venue at Melbourne Park — while local hope Nick Kyrgios played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a night match at Rod Laver Arena.
The youngest player in the tournament and the oldest player in the men’s draw went out earlier on Day 5.
Fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina ended 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk’s run with a 6-2, 6-2 victory, then met her fellow Ukrainian at the net for a warm embrace and some words of encouragement.
“She’s a great fighter,” Svitolina, one of five women in contention for the No. 1 ranking, said of her fellow Ukrainian. “We’re going to hear a lot more about her.”
Andreas Seppi withstood 52 aces from 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic for a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (5), 9-7 win in 3 hours and 51 minutes in an afternoon match.
Players were bothered and spectators clamored for shade and mist-spraying fans in searing heat earlier Friday, and organizers were on the verge of enforcing the tournament’s extreme heat policy before temperatures dropped significantly after peaking around 2 p.m. local time.
Play can be suspended at the Australian Open if the temperature 40 Celsius (104F) and a combination of factors — including temperature, humidity and breeze — reaches an unbearable limit.
Alize Cornet, who needed a medical timeout and a doctor to take her blood pressure as she struggled with heat stress in her 7-5, 6-4 third-round loss to Elize Mertens, was among those suggesting the extreme heat policy needs reviewing.
“I started to feel dizzy. ... I was feeling super, super hot. I kind of felt that I could faint at any moment,” she said, adding that while precautions were taken by tournament officials, “playing in this condition is of course very dangerous for the health of the player.
“The limit of not playing the match is really high. ... I think this limit should be a little bit lower.”
No. 3-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat No. 30 Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in just over three hours after the change came through and said “the heat didn’t scare me at all today.”
Kyle Edmund overcame Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (0), 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 in 3 ½ hours on an open court in the peak of the heat, earning a spot in the next round against Seppi. No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta had a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over No. 23 Gilles Muller.
Kostyuk entered the tournament ranked No. 521 — a number that will likely be halved next month — and had wins over 25th-seeded Peng Shuai and Olivia Rogowska to become the youngest player to win main-draw matches at the Australian Open since Martina Hingis in 1996.
The step up to facing a top 10 player was too much.
Svitolina, the only seeded player still in contention in her quarter, had five aces, only 11 unforced errors and didn’t serve a double fault in the 59-minute match.
Kostyuk, who had nine double-faults — including one on match point — sobbed into a towel in the tunnel soon after leaving the court, but could joke about the defeat when asked later what she could take out of the experience.
“Well, a lot,” she said. “How much you have to pay Svitolina to have one-hour lesson? I got it for free.”
Svitolina will next play Denisa Allertova, who beat Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4. No. 19 Magdalena Rybarikova had a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win over Kateryna Bondarenko.
Petra Martic celebrated her 27th birthday with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 over Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum.
“That was really ugly,” Martic said of the heat. “We were lucky to play on Rod Laver because we had some shade behind so you could hide for a few seconds in between the points.
“Other than that, you need to be mentally tough and ready to just suffer out there.”
Rafael Nadal into fourth round of Australian Open
Rafael Nadal into fourth round of Australian Open
‘Riyadh is our showcase event,’ says LIV CEO O’Neil as 2026 season tees off
- Thomas Detry and Peter Uihlein top individual leaderboard on 7 under after 1st round at Riyadh Golf Club, while Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC lead team standings on 15 under
- Smash GC captain Talor Gooch and LIV Golf newcomer Elvis Smylie sing the praises of the atmosphere in the Kingdom surrounding the event
RIYADH: The 2026 LIV Golf season teed off under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club on Wednesday night, as stars including Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson got the league’s fifth season underway.
Thomas Detry and Peter Uihlein topped the individual leaderboard after 18 holes, with both carding 7-under-par 65s.
Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC led the team standings at 15 under. Sebastian Munoz led the way for the team with a 5-under round of 67, though he was unable to match his opening-round performance from last year when he shot 8 under.
“The start of the season is a bit like that first day of school when you were a little kid,” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil told Arab News.
“It was wonderful to be out on the course and on the range, seeing the players. A lot of us haven’t seen each other for quite some time, so it was like the first day of school meets a family reunion.”
O’Neil also highlighted the significance of starting the season in Riyadh.
“Riyadh is our showcase event and I couldn’t imagine a more fitting place to open,” he said. “There’s something special about LIV at night; it’s something you can’t really describe, you actually have to come and see it.”
LIV Golf has experienced significant growth since its debut in 2022, and despite preseason concerns after Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed confirmed they would not be returning for the 2026 campaign, O’Neil said the league’s broader mission remains unchanged.
“We’re so mission-driven,” he explained. “I believe if you stick to your values, good things happen. All these incredible stars — DeChambeau, Rahm, (Phil) Mickelson, Cam Smith, DJ (Johnson) — they wake up every day thinking, ‘How can I grow the game of golf overall?’”
That influence is also helping to shape and guide LIV’s younger players.
“We’re excited to see all these generations coming together and growing the game,” O’Neil said.
He highlighted 21-year-old Michael La Sasso, the league’s youngest player, as an example of this.
“Think about it from his parents’ perspective,” O’Neil said. “Is this a good place for him? To be mentored by Phil Mickelson? To learn how to practice, how to travel, how to eat, sleep and take care of your body? How to get through jet lag?”
Travel remains a defining feature of LIV’s global model.
“This notion of playing on five continents is something I couldn’t imagine years ago,” O’Neil added.
Heading into Wednesday’s opening round of the season, a major talking point was Official World Golf Ranking’s decision to award points to players who finish in the top 10 at LIV events. While LIV officials welcomed the move, they expressed disappointment that the points were limited to only the top 10. Smash GC captain Talor Gooch addressed the issue in his post-round press conference.
“I don’t think the right thing was done, which is what we’ve experienced at LIV for the last four or five seasons,” he said.
“Anyone who says the fair thing was done, I don’t think they’re in tune with reality.”
Despite the debates off the course, Gooch nonetheless praised the atmosphere in Riyadh.
“It’s amazing being here in Saudi Arabia, playing at night,” he said. “Then going to Australia and playing in the day (next week at LIV Golf Adelaide) — it’s pretty special.”
Australian youngster Elvis Smylie, who impressed in his LIV Golf debut with a 6-under 66 that put him in third place on the leaderboard, also had positive thoughts about his first visit to the Kingdom.
“I’ve really enjoyed my first trip to Saudi Arabia,” the 23-year-old said. “Adjusting my body clock was a challenge, but it was great to be here. It was also nice to meet His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan (the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund) out there.”
Round two tees off at 6:05pm local time on Thursday with a shotgun start.
