It was not a winning Friday in Miami for the Aussies with all four in singles action bowing out to higher-ranked and seeded players.
Nick Kygrios def by Karen Khachanov [22] 7-6(3) 6-0
Kimberly Birrell def by Marta Kostyuk [23] 7-5 4-6 6-3
Rinky Hijikata def by Novak Djokovic [4] 6-0 7-6(1)
Tristan Schoolkate def by Felix Auger Aliassime [18] 6-4 6-4.
After reaching a career-high No.60 in the live WTA rankings, Birrell has produced some of her best tennis in 2025.
Despite hanging in as long as she could against 23rd seed Marta Kostyuk, the Aussie reflected on her regrets.
"I think potentially there were some moments in the first set where I had a few too many unforced or cheap errors, and against someone at her level, you just can't do that," Birrell said.
Arriving in Miami dreading the possibility of losing four straight matches, the pressure was on Novak Djokovic to deliver
The 24-time major winner equaled Rafael Nadal's record for most wins at a Masters.
"I felt a little bit of nerves coming out, but I thought he was pretty sharp from the get-go again, same as when I played him in Brissy [at the 2025 Brisbane International]," Hijikata said.
"His level was so high from the beginning. I didn't really have time to work [my] way into the match."
Host of The First Serve, Brett Phillips, sat down with Birrell, Hijikata and Schoolkate to get their reactions after their respective matches.
There are no Aussie women left standing in the singles draw, but four Australian men remain alive, who are all in action on Day 5.
25-year-old Adam Walton has been handed a reprieve after the late withdrawal of world No.22 Hubert Hurkacz, allowing the Aussie to skip the opening-round with a bye and for the first time, our two leading men will take to court, Alexei Popyrin to contest his first match since announcing his coaching split with Xavier Malisse and Alex de Minaur.
Adam Walton [Lucky Loser] v Luciano Darderi
Jordan Thompson v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard [28]
Alexei Popyrin [25] v Roman Safiullin
Alex de Minaur [10] v Yunchaokete Bu
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