NORRIE OUT BUT ‘BUILD-UP NOT TO BLAME’

Cameron Norrie denied a hectic schedule contributed to his third-round loss against Jiri Lehecka at the Australian Open.

The British No 1, seeded 11th, was bidding to reach the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time but from two-sets-to-one up he was beaten 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-4 by Lehecka, a 21-year-old Czech ranked 71.

With Norrie’s top-20 status comes various earning opportunities, and he played exhibitions during the off-season in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.

He then played three matches at the United Cup to begin the season, beating Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz, before reaching the final of the ATP event in his home city of Auckland.

The 27-year-old, who switched allegiance from New Zealand to Britain as a teenager, only arrived in Melbourne the day before his first-round match and admitted he struggled to find his rhythm – but still believes his preparation was the right one.

“It’s the best preparation I’ve ever had to play matches,” said Norrie. “Maybe I just peaked a little bit too early in United Cup, but now I think I came in here and gave myself the best chance. I didn’t play a very good match and almost won in five sets.”

Sebastian Korda stunned Daniil Medvedev to make a statement at Melbourne 25 years after his father Petr claimed the title. While it may be too soon to talk about the 22-year-old potentially adding more silverware, he was superb in a 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) third-round victory over seventh seed Medvedev, the beaten finalist for the last two years.

Earlier, Stefanos Tsitsipas, at three now the highest seed left, continued his serene progress through the draw to set up a rematch with Jannik Sinner. He is yet to drop a set and defeated another in-form player in Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Mackenzie McDonald was unable to follow up his big victory over Nadal, struggling with an injury himself and resorting to underarm serves in a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-2 loss to 31st seed Yoshihito Nishioka.

Sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime had a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory over Francisco Cerundolo, while 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz beat Denis Shapovalov in five sets.