1. Don’t give up your day job, Nick
First question for Roger Federer after his comfortable win over Taylor Fritz was what he thought of Nick Kyrgios’ debut as a TV commentator.
“Yeah, we need him to play first, before commentating for 10-plus years or whatever,” said the all-time Grand Slam title-winner. “Look, I like Nick, I like the way he plays and all that. But I wish he was on the court rather than a commentary booth.”
MORE: Five things we learned on Day 4
Kyrgios, a first-round victim of Milos Raonic, had ventured that the Swiss maestro hits shots made-to-order for the highlights reel. Ah, no.
“I learned early on in my career that if you’re on centre court, just play your game and good shots are going to happen,” said Federer. “You have worked hard on your game and you inevitably have to make good shots. Maybe can make the highlight reel. Looking for them I think is the wrong take.”
MORE: Federer hands Taylor a swift exit
In his teenage years, Federer admitted, “I was trying to do these great shots on Court 17 and you’re like, ‘Nobody cares.’ You know, you have to be on centre court to hit those.”
2. Friday was a black day for Belarus
Two Belarusian dark horses had a black day Friday. Highly-fancied No.11 seed Aryna Sabalenka, an outsider pick for the title, was humbled by 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-2.
MORE: Youth movement as Anisimova into last 16
“She routined her like it was nothing. It was barbecue chicken for her,” was the most original assessment, from Anisimova’s American compatriot Frances Tiafoe.
Belarus No.2 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, upset winner over No.20 Anett Kontaveit (and impressive conqueror of Elina Svitolina in Brisbane) took just three games from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The all-time Belarus No.1, Victoria Azarenka, champion here in 2012-13, departed tearfully in the first round. The 29-year-old rebounded on Friday with a win in doubles alongside Ash Barty.
3. Maria Sharapova loves a good croissant
Champion in Melbourne 11 years ago, Maria Sharapova was buzzing after ending the title defence of Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 4-6 6-3, from 4-1 down in the first set.
MORE: Wozniacki ousted in Sharapova stunner
“It was a good win, I feel pretty happy about it,” said the uber-competitive Russian in her presser, exuding glamour as per usual in a shiny black creation. “Even wearing a crop top. I don’t pull those out often.”
The 31-year-old was asked if she actually ate the croissant featured in an Instagram post. “I love croissants. Who doesn’t love croissants? You sound like you love a croissant,” she suggested to her questioner.
“Actually I’m not eating croissants on my off days. No, I think I just love exploring the city and I had a day off last week. So I went to a great little bakery and had croissants. I highly recommend it. It’s called Lune.”
Sharapova is the idol of 17-year-old Anisimova, an unlikely but potential quarterfinal opponent (the teenager would need to upset Petra Kvitova, while Sharapova faces Barty in the fourth round).
They’ve never played, but met late last year at the wedding of their long-time manager Max Eisenbud.
4. Old guard 2, Next Gen 0
One of the narratives of AO2019 is the coming generational shift. Is this the major where the millennials take over? Not on the evidence of Friday. The 30-plus old guard didn’t drop a set. Roberto Bautista Agut, five-set victor over Andy Murray and John Millman, had an easier straight-sets passage past Karen Khachanov, the highly-touted No.10 seed who beat Novak Djokovic for the Paris Masters title.
At Rod Laver Arena, the stirring run of top Aussie Alex de Minaur was ended by a ruthless Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 6-4, the same score as their Wimbledon third round last year.
MORE: Nadal shows De Minaur no mercy
John McEnroe asked the Spaniard post-match if he had any advice for the 19-year-old on how to close the gap. “No,” Rafa predictably replied, while praising de Minaur as “a big fighter and super-quick; probably the fastest on the tour.”
Nadal, 32 and the champion here a decade ago, set up an old-school fourth-round clash with Tomas Berdych, 33.
Stand by for Djokovic v Denis Shapovalov on Saturday and Federer v Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday.
5. Aussie fans in the stands at 3am
Garbine Muguruza and Johanna Konta shook hands at the net at 3.12am Friday, the Spaniard winning their marathon second round 6-4 6-7(3) 7-5 in two hours 42 minutes.
Rain delays, roof closures and the two men’s five-setters in Margaret Court Arena meant the women did not take the court until after well after midnight. “I can’t believe there are people watching us at 3.15am,” Muguruza said. “We play for you guys watching – otherwise why are we here?”
Refreshingly, no knee-jerk outrage from players today. “I don’t know what other choices you have,” said Federer. “I also went to bed at 3.15 or 3.30 after the first day [although] I didn’t even finish so late.”
Moving the match to Court 3 was ruled out as the court had to be cleaned. Also MCA ticket-holders would see just one match. “The atmosphere might be quite sad if you put them on an outside court,” said Federer. “As tennis players you have to be flexible, especially in the head. We don’t know if we play at 11 or 1 or super late. You just deal with it. You move on.”
The problem with playing so late, according to Sharapova, who defeated Rebecca Peterson in the last match on Wednesday night, is “there is no way to train” the body to perform at an hour most players would be in bed. “How many players train after midnight, unless you’re jet-lagged or just crazy? You don’t train for that. That’s just a survival thing, right? Like, you just have to get it done.”
Wozniacki was even more philosophical. “Sometimes matches run late. You know, playing long matches is kind of the beauty in tennis. You see some epic matches that go three long sets or five long sets for the men. I think it has history and it has charm.”