Top News

British involvement in the Australian Open singles draw is over at the third round stage after Alexander Zverev beat Cameron Norrie for the seventh time in eight years. Emma Raducanu was the last woman standing before exiting in the second round, and now Norrie is heading home after a third-round defeat.

Zverev won a close first set 7-5 before Norrie responded to level the match and take the second 6-4. The world No. 3, however, retook the lead with a 6-3 third set before wrapping it up with a more lopsided fourth set.

Norrie has been Britain's last hope at three consecutive Grand Slams now and 14 of 24 majors since the start of 2020. He also went out in the US Open third round after reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals last summer.

• Coco Gauff hits out at Australian Open fan and says 'let's be respectful'

• Novak Djokovic's wife speaks out on row as Australian Open star booed off court

Raducanu went out on Wednesday after being beaten in straight sets by unseeded opponent Anastasia Potapova. The British No. 1 fell a stage earlier than 12 months ago, when she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, who went on to reach the final before being beaten by Madison Keys.

Arthur Fery also reached the second round in the men's draw as a qualifier after defeating 20th seed Flavio Cobolli in the first round. That was his second major win after also beating another 20-seed in Alexei Popyrin at Wimbledon last summer.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page

A third victory did not come against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, however, as the former French Open quarter-finalist won in straight sets. Fery forced a first-set tiebreaker, but Etcheverry took the second and third sets 6-1, 6-3.

Jacob Fearnley was the only other British man in the first round, but Kamil Majchrzak beat him 7-6 (2), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3). The world No. 74 could not repeat the feat of reaching the third round on debut last year.

He beat home favourite Nick Kyrgios in straight sets and then eliminated Arthur Cazaux after gaining direct admission into a Grand Slam tournament main draw for the first time. Zverev ended Fearnley's tournament in the third round, as he did to Norrie 12 months later.

Three women reached the first round alongside Raducanu, but none advanced any further. Francesca Jones retired in tears midway through her match against Polish qualifier Linda Klimovicova after suffering a gluteal injury in the same right leg already affected by a groin problem she was playing through.

Katie Boulter surprisingly received a wildcard to avoid qualifying, but faced the unenviable task of taking on Belinda Bencic. The 10th seed served Boulter up a bagel by taking the first set 6-0, but Britain's No. 4 made the second more of a contest before being beaten 7-5.

Sonay Kartal appeared in the Australian Open main draw for the first time after a breakthrough year in 2025. She took 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya to a first-set tiebreaker, but after losing out, went down 7-6 (3), 6-1.

There is still British involvement in the doubles, though. Luke Johnson and six-seed Neal Skupski are through to round three with their respective partners, Jan Zielinski and Christian Harrison.

Top-seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash are out, however, after being beaten by the Australian pair of Li Tu and James McCabe. Olivia Nicholls is the last British woman in the doubles and plays with 12th seed partner Tereza Mihailkova against Australian opponents Maya Joint and Storm Hunter in the second round tomorrow.