Cameron Norrie survives one-hour rain delay to book Alexander Zverev rematch at Australian Open

Cameron Norrie had to wait for an hour before winning the three points he needed to advance to the third round of the Australian Open, where he will face old foe Alexander Zverev.

The British No 2 was leading opponent Emilio Nava 4-3 in the fourth-set tiebreak when a sudden heavy shower interrupted his progress and forced both players to leave the court.

When the players returned an hour later, following a brief warm-up, Norrie won three of the next five points to close out a 6-1 7-6 (3) 4-6 7-6 (5) victory.

Norrie, the 26th seed, is the last British player left standing in the singles draw, following defeats for Emma Raducanu and Arthur Fery on Wednesday, and the 30-year-old will now take on third seed Zverev in the third round.

On paper, it’s a tough match-up for Norrie, as he has lost all six previous matches against the German, including a straight-sets defeat in the fourth round of Wimbledon and a five-set defeat in the third round of the Australian Open in 2024, which was decided by a final-set tiebreak.

“He's one of the most consistent players on the tour,” Norrie said. “I think he loves playing me. Every time we play we have such high-level matches. He always beats me. We always have close sets, close matches. I played him fourth round here, lost 7-6 in the fifth before. But he's one of the best competitors out there.

“I'm excited to play against him. I think it's nice being the underdog again. To go and play him, nothing to lose. I want to take it to him, just rest up, get to hopefully enjoy another amazing atmosphere like I did today.

“I think I can trouble him. I'm going to have to really play complete match and play well for four hours I think to have a chance with him.”

Zverev, last year’s Australian Open runner-up, was also interrupted by rain as he defeated France’s Alexandre Muller 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4, before he downplayed an injury scare after taking a medical timeout in the fourth set.

“I took a painkiller and it was fine after that. I’m not someone who takes a lot of medical timeouts so I was a bit scared,” Zverev said. “But it was the Achilles tendon and there have been a lot of Achilles tendon injuries over the past couple of years on tour.

“I just wanted the physio to check it out, but I was moving fine, feeling fine and hopefully tomorrow it will be fine as well.”