Sears coaches Ana Ivanovic and was watching her match against American Madison Keys when he collapsed – though Jamie Murray confirmed he was “conscious, talking and sitting up”.
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Andy Murray won through to the fourth round of the Australian Open today – and then immediately dashed to hospital to see his ill father-in-law , writes Neil Mcleman in Melbourne.
In a statement, the Australian Open said that Ivanovic and Keys chose to continue the match after being updated on Sears’s condition.
Sousa noted he and Murray had no idea that play stopped for nearly an hour on centre court after Sears was loaded onto a stretcher.
Considering the fact that Keys didn’t play any matches ahead of the Australian Open due to a left forearm injury, she’s hit the ground running in Melbourne.
He was not in the player’s box at the time he collapsed, but the commotion in the stadium caused the match to be indefinitely suspended.
At the time of the incident Andy Murray was playing his match against 32nd seed Joao Sousa on the Margaret Court Arena less than 100 meters away.
The 28-year-old did not give a post-match press conference following the hard-fought win, after he was informed that his father-in-law, Nigel Sears, collapsed in the stands across on Rod Laver Arena.
Following Roger Federer’s 300th victory in grand slams on day five and Maria Sharapova’s 600th on tour, Wawrinka notched his 400th career win with a triumph over Czech Lukas Rosol 6-2 6-3 7-6(3).
Ivanovic was leading 6-4, 1-0 in the second set of the third round encounter.
The players are now in the second set. No. 10-seeded John Isner, who fired 44 aces as he advanced with a 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4 win over Fernando Lopez. As breaks of serve may prove hard to come by, she can’t afford a poor service performance and must look to get Keys on the move whenever she can by using her biggest weapon, the forehand.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka walked on to Rod Laver Arena knowing that the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked players were already out of the tournament and that the draw appeared to be opening up in her favor.
Sears was undergoing tests, but in good enough shape to ask for a TV so he could watch Ivanovic’s three-set loss to Keys.
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Johanna Konta beat Denisa Allertova 6-2, 6-2 to become the first British woman to reach the fourth round in 29 years and set up a clash with Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, who ousted Czech player Karolina Pliskova.
