Murray’s father-in-law Nigel Sears, the coach of Ana Ivanovic, was taken to hospital on Saturday after collapsing in the stands during the Serb’s match on Rod Laver Arena.
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Former US tennis player Pam Shriver speaks with crowd members as play is suspended after Nigel Sears, coach of Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, collapsed on the stairs of the Rod Laver arena during the third round match between Ivanovic and Madison Keys of the U.S. at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2016.
Ivanovic struggled with consistency when proceedings resumed, failing to convert any of her six break-point opportunities in the ninth game and allowing Keys to force a deciding set.
Two-time women’s champion Victoria Azarenka, back to her best after two years, raced into the last 16 after she blew away Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.
“That’s just far bigger than whatever thing I could have done on court today”.
Andy Murray has seen off a spirited Joao Sousa to seal his place in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who is due to play Murray in the last 16, offered his sympathies to the Briton and said he was sure the incident wouldn’t affect him in their match on Monday.
Tournament organisers said they did not have any details of what had necessitated Sears to require treatment.
On the other hand, fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka registered a routine win as he defeated Lukas Rosol 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Zhang Shuai, the last Chinese player left in the singles tournament, continued her fairytale run to reach the fourth round, having never previously been past the first round of a grand slam in 14 attempts.
Azarenka will next play No. 48-ranked Barbora Strycova, who upset 2015 Wimbledon finalist Muguruza 6-3, 6-2.
“It was not easy out here today – she’s an incredibly tough opponent and I had an incredibly tough match against her at the French Open previous year”, said Konta.
Murray, like Ivanovic, issued a statement after the match that did not address the incident, saying only that the match “was tricky”, that he “didn’t feel great” and that it was “good to get through that one”. Her next match is against 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova, who had a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 9 Karolina Pliskova.
“I just wanted to express my sincerest thanks to the incredible people who came to my aid, as well as the brilliant staff both at the Australian Open and the Epworth hospital”, Sears said.
Television microphones picked up Ivanovic talking to chair umpire Felix Torralba that she thought the person being treated was her coach before play was eventually suspended.
It was her second match in a row interrupted by a medical emergency.
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She completed the come-from-behind win with a cross-court volley on her second match point as both players departed without doing courtside interviews.
