Aussies falter on day four as Alex de Minaur sets up clash with 'dangerous' American

Alex de Minaur was the only Australian to make it into the third round on day four at Melbourne Park after an early scare against Serbia's Hamad Medjedovic as fellow Australian Priscilla Hon was knocked out.

De Minaur lost the opening set against world No.90 Medjedovic in a tie-break, before switching on to win the second 6-2.

The match was halted when a sudden downpour brought play to a halt as the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena.

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He went on to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-1, to seal his place in the third round against American Francis Tiafoe.

"I thought I was in a pretty good spot, I kind of had the momentum on my side, and it was tricky kind of timing wise," De Minaur said of the rain in his post-match press conference.

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"He took a lengthy toilet break and then all of a sudden the rain came down and it was another 15-20 minutes. It was a little bit of a restart.

'It allowed him to kind of settle down again and I just really wanted to make sure I started well that third set, so I came out of the blocks very hot."

While most will look at Medjedovic's rank and believe de Minaur should have won in quicker time, the Australian said he's happy to have passed the test.

In the past, he said such an opponent may have caused him some problems but he's grown.

"It is true that I've lost a couple of matches against these types of players. I guess that I portray that image that it's gonna be tough, over five sets, and if they can come out and play a really good first set or a good set, but they're gonna have to maintain that level over, three out of five sets.

"I'm currently 6th in the world, right, and I've gotten there because I can play some ball too, right.

"More than feeling sorry for myself, I'm starting to look at it the other way, that it's up to me to get him out of that zone and lift my level and show what I'm actually made of."

De Minaur described Tiafoe as a "dangerous" opponent next round despite winning three of the four matches in the head to head.

Earlier on day four, Hon lost 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 11 minutes to American Iva Jovic, while Jordan Thompson and Ajla Tomljanovic both went down on a tough day for the locals.

Talia Gibson and Storm Hunter were also eliminated while top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz advanced.

Five Aussies will play in the singles draw on day five, with Rinky Hijikata, Taylah Preston, Maddison Inglis, Dane Sweeney and James Duckworth all in action.

Tough clashe for Sweeney who plays eighth seed Ben Shelton, while Duckworth faces Jannik Sinner tonight.