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The Australian Open tennis player who has everyone confused

Matthew Dellavedova in action at the Australian Open boys singles.

Matthew Dellavedova in action at the Australian Open boys singles. Photo: Getty

If you were scratching your head while browsing through the Australian Open scores on Sunday, you weren’t the only one.

Matthew Dellavedova, playing for Australia, won in three sets at Melbourne Park – but it wasn’t the star NBA basketballer.

It was actually his second cousin, who shares the same name, and the 16-year-old saw off Ien Schouten of the Netherlands 6-3 3-6 6-2 to progress through to the second round.

Dellavedova’s dad, Peter, who is also his coach, is cousins with the Boomers star’s father.

And the tennis prodigy says he hopes to make a success of his tennis career – if only to come up when he searches himself on Google.

“It’s a bit annoying when I type in my name and it pops up with him,” he is quoted as saying by Fox Sports.

“So it’s a bit instinctive for me to get better and hopefully one day my face will be on there … it’s pretty cool that we’re related.”

Dellavedova, the tennis version, said he has “never actually met” the basketballer because he is “too busy in America most of the year”, but that their relationship is a good conversation starter.

No arguments from us.

Brotherly love

German Alexander Zverev almost pulled off a big upset on Saturday, leading two-sets-to-one against Rafael Nadal, only to lose.

The 19-year-old had every right to be distraught but was back in the stands on Sunday, supporting his older brother Mischa in his shock win over world No.1 Andy Murray.

And look how happy he was.

In a great post-match interview, Mischa said his younger brother was his inspiration.

“My brother inspires me all the time because he plays such great tennis,” he said.

“The match was incredible yesterday and maybe it wasn’t the best preparation [for me to watch] … it seemed to be okay.”

‘I control the box’

Brit Dan Evans had a few interesting things to say about Bernard Tomic’s entourage after knocking the Aussie out of his home grand slam on Friday evening, dubbing some of them as “complete idiots” and “embarrassing”.

Those claims were denied by John Tomic, with Bernard’s father quoted by the Herald Sun reportedly saying: “Nobody in the box, in the first row or the second row, said anything bad to Dan Evans.

“I control the box. Nobody coughs during the serve or says anything bad. I congratulated Dan after the match. He deserved to win.”

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John Tomic (centre) watches his son, Bernard, at the Australian Open. Photo: Getty

That’s that, then?

In bed by 5am …

Spare a thought for Grigor Dimitrov, who finished his third-round victory over Richard Gasquet at 2am on Sunday.

Thankfully for Dimitrov, the match, which started at 11.58pm (local time), was over in straight sets, but there was no going straight to bed for the winner.

“Hopefully by 5 [am], I’m going to be done with everything, all the stretchings, the rehab, just sleep in, come back tomorrow, hit some balls, kind of go to bed again,” he said afterwards.

The stat

The last time, before this Australian Open, that the top two seeds in the men’s singles have failed to reach the last eight of a grand slam?

2004, at the French Open.

Picture of the day

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Andy Murray in his press conference: when a picture tells a thousand words. Photo: Getty

The Sam Stosur streak under threat

Ever since she displaced Casey Dellacqua in October 2008, Samantha Stosur has been Australia’s top-ranked women’s player.

Stosur won the US Open in 2011 but has faded in recent years and now sits 21st in the world rankings.

Fellow Aussie Daria Gavrilova is on the rise and has reached the fourth round of the Australian Open for the second year running.

Two more wins will see leapfrog Stosur to become Australia’s new women’s No.1.

It is no easy task – she faces fifth seed Karolina Pliskova on Monday evening – but victory in that would set up a meeting with American Jennifer Brady or veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, matches that Gavrilova would be favourite to win.

What’s on for Monday

Gavrilova’s battle with Pliskova is the highlight of the day for Aussie fans, with the pair to clash on Rod Laver Arena from 7pm.

It is followed by what’s sure to be an entertaining men’s singles clash between Rafael Nadal and Gael Monfils.

Serena Williams takes on Barbora Strycova from 11am at Rod Laver Arena as her bid for a record 23rd grand slam title gathers pace, while Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Denis Istomin, will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Margaret Court Arena.

There’s also a host of doubles action going on, with Aussies Ashleigh Barty and Dellacqua, and Sam Groth and Chris Guccione, playing on Hisense Arena during the day.

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