The rain set in in Melbourne on Wednesday, but play went on at Melbourne Park, albeit after some lengthy morning delays.

Australians, still buzzing after Thanasi Kokkinakis’s five-set epic victory on Tuesday night, willed on Storm Hunter and Alex De Minaur as they take control of their midday Australian Open outings.

Later on Wednesday, another native faces world No.1 Novak Djokovic for a place in the third round.

Demon progresses

World No.10 Alex De Minaur took early control of his match against No.47 Matteo Arnaldi on Wednesday afternoon and never let up, beating his opponent in straight sets.

After a tense opening, with the first two games going to deuce before both men ultimately held serve, the scene was set for momentum to ebb and flow between the two. But De Minaur had other plans.

The young Italian struggled to handle De Minaur’s strong forehand return, as the Australian broke his opponent and continued to serve confidently. Arnaldi made several unforced errors, resulting in De Minaur winning the first set 6-3.

The Australian’s confidence grew in the second set. He broke Arnaldi early to take full control of the second set, before winning it without dropping a game.

Arnaldi battled back in a far more competitive third set, but De Minaur showed the composure and skill to see off any comeback.

On the hunt

Also on Wednesday, round-one hero and world doubles no.1 Hunter faced Laura Siegmund in a first meeting between the two.

There was little to separate the pair in the first set. Both held serve and struggled to take control – until Hunter managed a break that led her to take the first set 6-4, as the match continued.

The second set, however, was all Siegmund, as the German swung momentum back in her favour to win 6-3.

Hunter clinched the the third set in a reversal of the second, sending her through to the third round.

Miracle win

In one of the day’s biggest results, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva launched herself into the spotlight with a straight sets win against sixth seed Ons Jabeur.

Jabeur is a three-time grand slam finalist and was the favourite heading into the match. But she was stunned 6-0, 6-2, against a 16-year-old who had never beaten a top-10 opponent.

Andreeva played in the junior tournament at last year’s Australian Open, suffering a heartbreaking loss in the final. On Wednesday, she needed just 54 minutes to topple the world No.6 and reach the next round.

“I was really nervous before the match,” she said.

“I just wanted to go and play on this big court for the second time, just to enjoy tennis, just to enjoy the time, and I did.”

Star takes aim at Channel Nine

Channel Nine’s decision to not broadcast Elena Rybakina’s match against Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday night has come under fire, with Russian player Daria Kasatkina posting social media to lament the lack of coverage.

“No women’s tennis shown on TV,” she said on X.

“They are playing on Rod Laver, prime time and for what? Don’t wanna say who they actually showing now.”

Nine was showing Thanasi Kokkinakis’s five-set thriller against Seb Ofner on its main channel. Over on 9Gem, another men’s match – Alexander Zverev versus Dominik Keopfer – was broadcast instead of the women’s clash between last year’s finalist and a former world No.1.

Katsatkina won her first-round match against American Peyton Sloan and faces Sloane Stephens in the second round.

Alexei Popyrin faces Novak Djokovic later on Wednesday. Photo: Getty

Face-off

Alexei Popyrin, who beat fellow Australian Marc Polmans in the first round, now finds himself facing grand slam legend Djokovic.

Popyrin enters the game — scheduled for later on Wednesday — as the heavy underdog. It will take something truly special for him to beat tennis’s most decorated player, who is looking to win his 11th Australian Open and 25th Grand Slam title.

Ahead of the match, which is likely to be a thriller for a partisan home crowd, Popyrin insisted he could bring down the GOAT.

“I don’t want to go in there just thinking, ‘Oh, he’s probably the greatest of all time and all that’. I admire what he’s done. He probably is the greatest of all time,” Popyrin said.

“But there is no point going into the court if I don’t believe that I can.

“I need to have that confidence going in and the belief going in that I can win the match and that he is just the world No.1, and he is just another player for me on the opposite side of the net.”

Popyrin lost his only previous encounter with Djokovic in straight sets in Tokyo – a long time ago.

“I played him when I was 19 years old,” the underdog said.

“I just broke the top 100 when I played him, qualified for that tournament. I remember that I was physically just not up to par to him.

“Now I’m 24 years old, five years later, a bit more experienced, bit more mature, a bit physically stronger. I would say much more physically stronger.

“I’ve improved since then. Looking forward to going out there and we’ll see what I can bring.”