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The Latest: Karlovic hits 50 aces in back-to-back matches
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The Latest: Karlovic hits 50 aces in back-to-back matches

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:29 p.m. ET

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The Latest on Friday at the Australian Open (all times local):

9:35 p.m.

Ivo Karlovic may have lost his third-round match at the Australian Open against Andreas Seppi, but he's still accomplishing new feats - at nearly 39 years old.

The big-serving 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Croatian player smacked 50 aces in back-to-back matches for the first time in his career, hitting 53 in his five-set, second-round win over Yuichi Sugita and another 52 in Friday's five-set loss to Seppi.

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Karlovic fell just short of becoming the oldest player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam since Jimmy Connors' run to the U.S. Open semifinals in 1991.

How does he keep doing it? Karlovic says it's simple: He hits the gym, lifts weights and runs.

''I always say that it's about the fitness level,'' he says. ''I don't feel any weaker than when I was 28.''

Karlovic's ranking has slid from No. 21 to No. 89 in the past year, but if he can keep it high enough to continue playing in ATP-level events, he could see himself sticking around for several more years.

''I think I can still do upsets here and there, so I like it still,'' he said.

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9:05 p.m.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal is through to the fourth round at Melbourne Park, beating Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in a night match at Margaret Court Arena.

Nadal, who lost the 2017 final here to Roger Federer, is attempting to win the Australian Open for the second time - the first was in 2009 - and add to his 16 major titles, second only among men to Federer's 19.

In the round of 16 on Sunday, the Spanish lefthander will play Diego Schwartzman, who beat Alexandr Dolgopolov in four sets earlier Friday.

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8:50 p.m.

Will Smith made his Grand Slam debut on Friday night, taking a seat at Rod Laver Arena for a third-round Australian Open match between local hope Nick Kyrgios and 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The actor briefly met Tsonga before the players walked onto the court.

''Really a great guy. Really sweet. Love his energy,'' Smith told former player Jim Courier in an interview aired on the Seven Network. ''Happy being here watching these guys play.''

Smith has spent 10 days in Australia taking a break before starting work on a movie.

''This is the first time at the Open - this is my first Slam,'' said Smith, who planned to watch top-ranked Rafael Nadal on nearby Margaret Court Arena but decided to stick around on the main show court.

He is the second Hollywood personality at the Australian Open this week. Will Ferrell appeared in the crowd over the first few days, doing an on-court interview with Roger Federer.

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7:55 p.m.

Andreas Seppi overcame Ivo Karlovic and the Croatian's 52 aces to advance to the fourth round with a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (5), 9-7 win that spanned 3 hours, 51 minutes.

The 33-year-old Seppi clinched the match with a break of the 38-year-old Karlovic's service, only his second break of nine attempts during the match. Seppi saved both break points against him.

Seppi plays Kyle Edmund of Britain in the fourth round. Edmund also had a five-set win Friday, beating Nikoloz Basilashvili in 3 hours, 34 minutes.

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6:10 p.m.

Third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov has advanced to the fourth round at Melbourne Park, beating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a Rod Laver Arena match which concluded the day session on the main show court.

After beating qualifiers in his first two matches, Dimitrov had a much more difficult time against the 30th-seeded Rublev. Serving for the match, Dimitrov faced a break point before advancing on his first match point, clinching it with a winner off a Rublev drop shot.

Dimitrov will next play the winner of Friday night's match on Rod Laver between local hope Nick Kyrgios and 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round of 16.

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4:40 p.m.

Coco Vandeweghe has been hit with the largest fine of the 2018 Australian Open so far - a $10,000 penalty for unsporting conduct for screaming an obscenity at her first-round opponent, Timea Babos.

Vandeweghe said after the match that she was irritated by what she described as excessive celebrating by her Hungarian opponent during their match.

The 10th-seeded Vandeweghe was assessed a code violation for the obscenity and delay of game for insisting on eating a banana during a changeover, getting docked a point in the second set of her 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss.

Borna Coric has received the largest fine thus far in the men's draw - $5,000 for shattering his racket during his first-round loss to John Millman.

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3:05 p.m.

The worst of the extremely hot temperatures appears to be over at Melbourne Park.

The forecast high of 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) was never quite reached, with the temperature hitting 40.3 C (104.5 F) before a weather change came through that cooled things off, somewhat.

Within an hour, the temperature had starting dropping. At 3 p.m. it was 35.6 C (96 F).

Alize Cornet took a medical timeout and had her pulse and blood pressure checked during her match with Elise Mertens when the French player complained of shortness of breath.

But after being iced down by a trainer, she continued her match.

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2:45 p.m.

Elina Svitolina has ended 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk's strong run at Melbourne Park.

The fourth-seeded Svitolina beat her fellow Ukrainian 6-2, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena to advance to the fourth round.

Kostyuk, who had nine double faults Friday, including on match point, received entry into qualifying because of her junior girls' victory last year at the Australian Open. She won all three qualifying matches, then her first two in the main draw.

Her win over Peng Shuai in the first round made her the youngest player to win a main-draw match at the Australian Open since Martina Hingis in 1996.

Kostyuk entered the tournament ranked No. 521. A Women's Tennis Association official said Friday her ranking should improve to around 250 because of her performance at Melbourne Park.

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1:30 p.m.

Petra Martic celebrated her 27th birthday with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Luksika Kumkhum to advance to the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

The Croatian player will take on Elise Mertens or Alize Cornet in the final 16. Luksika had beaten Belinda Bencic in the second round after Bencic defeated Venus Williams in the first.

On Thursday, 2016 champion Angelique Kerber celebrated her 30th birthday with a second-round win over Donna Vekic.

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12:55 p.m.

Qualifier Denisa Allertova became the first player to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open after defeating Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4 at Margaret Court Arena.

Allertova will next play either fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina or 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk.

By 1 p.m., temperatures had risen to 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) , three degrees higher than at the start of play two hours earlier , but still under the forecast high of 42 C (108 F).

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11:20 a.m.

Melbourne Park was expected to be scorching on Friday, with temperatures reaching 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) for the fifth day of the Australian Open.

While top-seeded Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Caroline Wozniacki were among those scheduled to play their third-round matches, tournament officials were expected to keep a close eye on the rising temperatures. When play began at 11 a.m., it was already 35 C (95 F).

On Thursday, officials were criticized when play continued after the temperature reached 40 C (104 F), and several players, including Gael Monfils, complained it should have been stopped.

The tournament has an Extreme Heat Policy which goes into effect when the air temperature exceeds 40 Celsius and the wet-bulb reading, which takes into account other factors such as humidity, is more than 32.5 C (91 F).

When both those temperatures are exceeded, matches on outside courts are supposed to be suspended and the roofs closed on all three main stadiums - Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena.

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More AP coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/AustralianOpen

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