MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The Latest on the Australian Open (all times local):
12:45 a.m.
Alexander Zverev will donate $50,000 to the recovery effort for the bush fires that have devastated parts of Australia.
The seventh-seeded Zverev had pledged to donate all his prize money to the fundraising campaign if he won the Australian Open title this year. The singles champions get 4 million Australian dollars ($2.85 million). He lost in the semifinals to Dominic Thiem, ending his winning streak at five matches at Melbourne Park. It’s his best run at a major to date.
“Yeah, unfortunately I could not make it happen with all the prize money,” he said. “I will keep my promise. I will donate the $50,000 and hope that can help a little bit.”
Zverev promised $10,000 for every match he won at Melbourne Park.
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11:30 p.m.
Dominic Thiem will be playing for a major championship on a hard court for the first time at the Australian Open after losing the last two French Open finals to Rafael Nadal.
The fifth-seeded Thiem dropped the first set against seventh-seeded Alexander Zverev, a 22-year-old German who was playing in a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time, before rallying to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4).
The roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena during the first set when it started raining. The roof had been closed earlier in the day for doubles matches when the temperature hit 109 degrees F (43 degrees Celsius) at Melbourne Park.
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10:35 p.m.
Dominic Thiem leads the Australian Open semifinal 2 sets to 1 against Alexander Zverev.
The fifth-seeded Thiem saved two sets points with powerful ground strokes in the 10th game of the third, and then dominated the tiebreaker by winning four of the last five points.
Zverev won the first set 6-3 but Thiem, a two-time French Open runner-up, rallied to win the next two 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Play was delayed for seven minutes after the first game of the set because the players reported some lights going out on Rod Laver Arena. The tournament referee was called but light readings showed the light level to be OK to continue.
Thiem won the next three games to lead 3-1, but Zverev leveled after a long hold in the fifth game and breaking in the sixth.
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9:10 p.m.
Dominic Thiem has won the second set to level the Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev. Fifth-seeded Thiem saved two break points as he served for the second set before closing with an ace to make it 6-4.
Seventh-seeded Zverev took the first set 6-3 after breaking Thiem in the last game.
Zverev is playing in the semifinals for the first time at a major. Thiem has won both of their previous Grand Slam meetings - both at the French Open, where he has been runner-up twice to Rafael Nadal.
The winner will meet seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s championship match.
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8:30 p.m.
Alexander Zverev has taken the first set of the second men’s semifinal 6-3 against fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open.
After an exchange of breaks to open the match, Zverev got the vital break in the last game by winning the last three points on errors from Thiem.
Seventh-seeded Zverev is playing in the semifinals for the first time at a major. Thiem has won both of their previous Grand Slam matches, both at the French Open, where he has been runner-up twice to Rafael Nadal.
He’s coming off a four-set win over Nadal in the quarterfinals, while Zverev ousted 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
The winner will meet seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s championship match. Djokovic beat Roger Federer in the first of the semifinals.
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6:30 p.m.
Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic have combined to win their second Australian Open women’s doubles title in three years.
The pair routed top-seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Barbora Strycova 6-2, 6-1 under a closed roof at Melbourne Park because of the extreme heat.
It was a third consecutive final at Melbourne Park for Babos of Hungary and Mladenovic of France, who were runners-up last year, and their sixth Grand Slam final.
They won the 2018 Australian Open and the 2019 French Open and were also runners-up at Wimbledon in 2014 and the U.S. Open in 2018.
Babos and Mladenovic are on a roll as a team, finishing last year strongly by defending their WTA Finals title with a victory over Hsieh and Strycova in the final.Hsieh is set to replace Strycova at No. 1 when the new women’s doubles rankings are released Monday.
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5:15 p.m.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray have defeated Astra Sharma and John-Patrick Smith 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the mixed doubles semifinals at Melbourne Park.
Mattek-Sands and Murray will be bidding for their third Grand Slam mixed doubles title together when they face Barbora Krejcikova and Nikola Mektic in Saturday’s final.
Murray is the older brother of three-time major singles champion Andy.
Krejcikova and Mektic advanced by eliminating Gabriela Dabrowski and Henri Kontinen 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the other semifinal.
Krejcikova won the Australian Open mixed doubles championship last year with Rajeev Ram.
Mattek-Sands won it in 2012 with Horia Tecau.
Both of Friday’s semifinals were played with the main stadium’s retractable roof shut because the temperature soared to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius).
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4 p.m.
With the temperature soaring to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius), the mixed doubles semifinals have been played under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena.
The Australian Open’s “heat stress reading” reached a maximum level of 5.
In addition to shutting the main stadium’s roof, tournament officials postponed the start of play for junior and wheelchair competition because those were scheduled for smaller courts that do not have a retractable roof.
A brief rain shower in the afternoon helped lower the temperature to about 100 degrees (40 Celsius).
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