Live: Aussie Birrell scores upset win over second seed Navarro in Brisbane

Fantastic news for Aussies tennis fans with Taylah Preston fighting her way back to defeat sixth seed Marina Stakusic in the round of 16.

Preston lost the first set but recovered to beat the Canadian 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 14 minutes.

The 170th-ranked Preston will face either Alexandra Eala or Arianne Hartono in the quarterfinals.

Fellow Australia Petra Hule has just taken to the court to play Nina Stojanović in their last-16 encounter.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev has withdrawn from the United Cup due to a bicep strain.

He was set to play Kazakhstan in the men’s singles but will now be replaced by Daniel Masur.

A bright start for the Kazakhs across in the west, with Elena Rybakina winning the opening singles rubber of the quarterfinal against Germany.

Rybakina produced a clinical performance to defeat Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and five minutes.

Her compatriot Alexander Shevchenko is on court in the second singles rubber against Daniel Masur.

Kim Birrell has stunned the world number eight Emma Navarro 7-5, 7-5!

After being broken when serving for the match at 5-4, Birrell made no mistake next time around, breaking back and then serving out to love to take down the American second seed.

It was Queenslander Birrell’s second career victory against a top 10 opponent.

Czechia’s Karolina Muchova was up early in the set, but Poland’s Iga Swiatek broke away towards the back end of it and built some real momentum to win it 6-3.

In the last game, the Polish star saved two break points to come back and claim the all-important set.

She’s putting on show why she’s the world No.2, making the court seem small with her defensive work and strong hits.

Muchova, mind you, isn’t making it easy. This is a great match between two very silky players.

Taylah Preston has forced a deciding set in her round-of-16 match against sixth seed Marina Stakusic of Canada.

After Stakusic won the first set 6-4, Australia’s Preston rebounded to claim the second 6-3.

Naomie Osaka is safely through to the quarterfinals in Auckland after defeating Austria’s Julia Grabher 7-5, 6-3.

Two service breaks helped the Japanese former world number one secure the victory.

Osaka is yet to drop a set in the tournament.

All signs are pointing to the four-time major singles champion being in solid form once she arrives in Melbourne for her tilt at a third Australian Open title.

Superb stuff from Kimberly Birrell, who has claimed a very high-quality first set against number two seed Emma Navarro 7-5.

Birrell broke Navarro late in the set before being immediately broken herself.

That didn’t cause stop her though, as she immediately broke again before serving out the set to win it 7-5.

Some of the rallies in that set were simply extraordinary and she’s looking excellent at this early stage.

It’s a pretty even battle so far on Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney between Czechia’s Karolina Muchova and Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek is the world No.2 and the heavy favourite to win this match, but Muchova has proved she’s more than up for the fight, leading in the first set 2-1.

Team Czechia is leading Team Poland by one point after Tomas Machac’s early defeat of Hubert Hurkacz, so it’s an important equaliser or lead extender on the line.

Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has the front running after winning the opening set against Julia Grabher 7-5.

Osaka, seeded seventh in Auckland, is bidding for a quarterfinal berth against either Hailey Baptiste or Jodie Burrage.

Australia’s Taylah Preston has dropped the first set in her round-of-16 match against Canadian sixth seed Marina Stakusic.

Stakusic, ranked 125 in the world, claimed the set 6-4 and games are on serve in the second.

Iga Swiatek made a fierce start to her United Cup campaign for Poland with a crushing 6-1, 6-0 defeat of lowly-ranked Malene Helgo on Monday.

She then then teamed with Jan Zieliński to win a deciding mixed doubles rubber to steer Poland to a 2-1 victory over Norway.

She’s back today to take on Czechia’s Karolina Muchova on Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney in a rematch of the French Open 2023 final.

It was a close one, but Tomas Machac defeated Hubert Hurkacz in three sets to give Czechia an important one-point lead over Poland.

He won 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Could Iga Swiatek even the ledger? We’re about to find out, as she’s up next against Karolina Muchova.

Across the ditch in New Zealand, former Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka’s match against Austria’s Julia Grabher in underway.

That one is currently on-serve in the first.

Kicking off a very Aussie-heavy day on Pat Rafter Arena is Kim Birrell, who is taking on American second seed Emma Navarro.

We’ll keep across that, as well the other matches currently underway on Show Courts 1 and 2.

In case you missed it yesterday, Nick Kyrgios was knocked out of the singles tournament after a hard-fought 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 defeat to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Afterwards he spoke to the media, telling us that his wrist was throbbing and that playing tennis this week has made him feel like he has been hit by a truck.

He did say that he would be able to play doubles later today with Novak Djokovic in their second round clash against number one seeds Nikola Mektić and Michael Venus.

If you want to read about Kyrgios and his defeat, check this out.

It’s what we’ve been waiting for this United Cup: De Minaur v Boulter.

The newly engaged couple, Australia’s No.1 men’s player Alex de Minaur and England’s No.1 women’s player Katie Boulter, will be going head-to-head as Australia and Great Britain meet in their group’s final showdown.

Each country is still in contention to qualify for the quarterfinals too, so there’s a lot on the line.

De Minaur will face Billy Harris, while Boulter will play Olivia Gadecki.

But we’ll have to wait until the evening to see how it all plays out, with plenty of action preceding those matches.

We’ve got two undefeated teams to battle with Poland v Czechia, which will see Iga Swiatek take on Karolina Muchova and Hubert Hurkacz play Tomas Machac.

And in Perth, unbeaten Germany and Kazakhstan will meet before Team USA takes on China.

Hello folks and welcome to 2025!

My name is Simon Smale and it is a pleasure to be here with you today as the sporting year gets underway with some more live tennis.

Finally, six days in, the 2025 tennis season ticks into 2025, and we’ve got another jam-packed day of action for you across the continent, with matches in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Auckland and Canberra to keep us entertained.

Marnie Vinall and Luke Pentony will be with us over the course of the day too, and I know they’re just as excited as I am to start this year with a bang.