Australian Open 2025: Lys v Swiatek, Michelsen v De Minaur to come – live
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Shelton makes 6-2 and looks to have found his rhythm again his injured opponent, opening body to paste an inside-out forehand winner that breaks the sideline, and he leads 7-6 6-7 7-6. It’s incredible that Monfils is still going. Navarro is just a bit too solid and a bit too nasty for Kasatkina, I think, breaking her back to lead 6-4 3-2.
![[Eva Lys plays a backhand return to Iga Swiatek.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/08d26201de0ba561abb255fabbe92a25ff70f36b/0_0_7309_4873/master/7309.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Back on Court, Shelton leads Monfils 4-2 in their third-set breaker and if he sees it out, might the Frenchman retire? I could see him convincing himself he’s good for one more set, but two?. Lys starts well, narrowly missing a backhand down the line that would’ve given her a break, before Swiatek secures her hold through deuce. She’s never gone further than the semis here, which is in some way surprising – the balls bounce slower and lower than on other hard courts, meaning the surface is more clay-like than at Flushing Meadow, where she won in 2022. And though, in 2023, it took Elena Rybakina to beat her in Melbourme, last term it was Linda Noskova. I’d be surprised if she got past Coco Gauff or Aryna Sabalenka, likely final opponents, but she’s got a good chance of getting there given standing in her way are Kasatkina or Navarro, then Svitolina. She breaks immediately for 2-0.
It’s busy in Sydney too…. Monfils is a total freak of nature, barely able to run and yet giving Shelton plenty. His anticipation is incredible – his younger, fitter opponent is really struggling to keep the ball away from him – and we’re at 5-5 in set three, the first two having been split in tiebreaks.
