British number three Cameron Norrie will face Rafael Nadal at an empty Rod Laver Arena on day six of the Australian Open.
A snap lockdown announced by the Victoria government means that spectators will be absent from the next five days of action, including World No.2 Nadal’s match-up with the sole Briton left in the singles draw.
Having defeated Russia’s Roman Safiullin in the previous round, Norrie revealed he would consider reaching out to Andy Murray for advice on how to beat the Spaniard.
He said: “We play obviously pretty different, me being lefty, but he’s definitely got some good tips in there.
“I think he’s obviously not got many weaknesses, so I’m just going to have to do what I do as well as I can, implement my game and try to play the points on my terms.”
It will be the first time in his career that Norrie has faced one of the ‘Big Three’ (Federer, Djokovic, Nadal), and victory for the Johannesburg born 25-year-old would spell a huge upset against a man yet to lose a set at the tournament.
Elsewhere, Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev faces Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic, whilst Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will play a fellow 22-year-old in Sweden’s Mikael Ymer.
Seventh-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev plays Feliciano Lopez, whilst ninth seed Matteo Berrettini’s clash with Karen Khachanov rounds up the last men’s tie involving a top ten seed player.
In the women’s draw, Australian number one seed Ashleigh Barty will look to continue her charge towards a home Grand Slam victory when she faces Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Barty survived a scare in her second-round match against compatriot Daria Gavrilova, the second set going to a tie break which she eventually won 9-7.
Ukranian fifth seed Elina Svitolina will play Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in another of day six’s standout matchups.
An all-Czech affair pits sixth seed Karolina Pliskova against 25th seed Karolina Muchova, whilst Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic will play Elise Mertens of Belgium.
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