Australian Open 2025 LIVE updates: Collins in spat with senior journalist; Aussie star calls for less invasive drug tests; De Minaur flies Aussie flag

American No.8 seed Emma Navarro has never had to worry about the financial strains of failing to make it on the tour – her father, Ben Navarro, is a billionaire.

Regardless, 23-year-old Navarro who graduated from the American college system continues to make inroads on the game, having climbed into the world top 10.

She is about to tackle Ons Jabeur, of Tunisia, on Margaret Court Arena in the third round, the fartherest she has been at the Australian Open.

Speaking on court earlier this week, Navarro said she was able to maintain her composure on court.

“I am pretty laid back,” she said. “I think I get that from my mum, my mum’s pretty laid back.

“I’ve got my dad up there in my box, I know he was doing some flinching throughout the match. I gave him a hard time about that.”

Navarro’s father often travels with his daughter. He is the billionaire businessman behind Credit One Bank and he also owns the Cincinnati and Charleston tennis events.

According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.

Superstar Pole Iga Świątek has never enjoyed a great deal of success in Melbourne, and she believes she has identified why – she was not bringing her own hitting partner Down Under.

Świątek, who is about to play Brit Emma Raducanu on Rod Laver Arena, has made it past the fourth round just once from six attempts in the Australian Open.

In the past two years she has been bundled out in the third and fourth rounds.

“After last year I knew I should have taken the hitting partner (to Australia), so we didn’t do this mistake again,” Świątek said this week.

“I think already it’s paid off because just having, like, 20 minutes to hit or something, having a hitting partner who you can tell I want more topspin or a flat ball, it really adds more quality to the practices.”

Świątek leads the head-to-head clashes with Raducanu 3-0.

Swiatek is a five-time grand slam champion, but only one of those victories came on hard court, which was at the 2022 US Open.

Raducanu has one slam victory to her name, also on hard court, winning the 2021 US Open as a qualifier.

Oh dear, someone forgot to reboot the electronic ball-calling system on Kia Arena.

The automated line umpire was set to singles mode, which is no good when the opening match is a game of doubles.

Sure enough, the first point had to be overruled by the central umpire.

The American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram hit a clear winner down the doubles line against Aussie pair Tristan Schoolkate and Adam Walton, but the machine called it out.

The umpire stepped in and said it was a technical error because the “ball was clearly in”.

He paused the game while he rang tournament officials to have the problem rectified.

“They have been rebooting it,” the umpire announced to the crowd shortly after. “There was an issue with the tracking. It should be fine.”

Schoolkate and Walton have fallen behind 2-4 in the first set.

A couple of former Australian Open champions have a small reminder to themselves, and fans, on their racquet bags of their past success at the tournament.

Both Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka have personalised their bags, with Djokovic opting for patches that list his career results, while Sabalenka has a keychain with mini versions of the Australian trophy.

Djokovic won the first of his 10 Australian Open titles back in 2008, while Sabalenka went back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.

Young American Alex Michelsen says he has a lot in common with giant-killing countryman Learner Tien – they both love playing Fortnite.

They are also making a mark on the tour at a young age.

Tien, 19, shot to prominence by outing seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev in a five-set epic on Thursday night, while 20-year-old Michelsen will be looking to topple No.19 seed Karen Khachanov on John Cain Arena from 11am today. They are the first game up on day seven.

Michelsen revealed this week that he and close friend Tien were keen gamers.

“Learner Tien is incredible at Fortnite. He won’t say it, but he’s incredible,” Michelsen told website ATP Tour.

“If I could have been a professional video game player, that would have been sick. I played a lot of video games during Covid.

“But that would have never happened because I’m just not that good.”

Before he cracked it on the tour as an 18-year-old, Michelsen was looking to go to the University of Georgia. He said he was glad things panned out the way they did.

“I’ve just never been a big school guy, so I’m super happy,” he said.

“I’m not the most social guy, either. I just like to play tennis and chill out, do my thing.

Not content with taking it up to the Aussie crowd, outspoken American Danielle Collins has now fired a shot at experienced Nine sports presenter Tony Jones.

Although, admittedly, Jones did throw the first stone. Speaking on 3AW Drive yesterday, Jones labelled Collins a “brat” for her on court behaviour and follow-up press conference on Thursday night in which she thanked heckling crowd members for paying her lucrative wages.

“When you get people like Danielle Collins who lives this (lavish) lifestyle and then rubs our noses in it … I thought it overstepped the mark,” Jones said on radio.

But Collins spotted Jones’s comments online and reposted it on her Instagram account with a tetchy response.

“I love when these old dudes like Tony know the vibe #bratsummer #brataussiesummer #charliexcx,” she wrote on her account.

You won’t find it on the practice schedule, but we’ve got a couple of high-profile players practicing on Rod Laver Arena this morning.

Polish world No. 2 Iga Świątek just had a hit out on the centre court, ahead of her 11.30am third round match against Britain’s Emma Raducanu.

Swiatek’s session wrapped up at 10am, with opponent Raducanu stepping out to start her practice session as Swiatek walked off the court.

Unlike practice sessions on the outside courts, these sessions are closed and not available for public viewing.

Today’s match will be the fourth meeting between these two on a court, with Swiatek winning on all previous occasions.

Their most recent meeting was in the quarter-finals in Stuttgart last year, when Swiatek won 7-6 (6-2), 6-3.

There’s no excuse not to head to Melbourne Park for day seven of the Australian Open for super Saturday – except, of course, the cost-of-living crisis.

But for those with cash in the wallet, it is going to be a cracking day. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a top of 27, with no rain on the horizon. They are also predicting winds of 15km/h to 20km/h.