Qinweng Zheng vs Katie Boulter: Live score and updates as British No 1 aims for third…

Corrr, Swiatek drops one into the Collins backhand and the American absolutely rips it.

I’m sat here on my own beaming at that shot. Mamma Mia.

What have you got world No 1?

Danielle Collins is determined to give this Rod Laver Arena crowd a show and the semi-finalist from a few years ago isn’t willing to go out on a whimper.

Her serve has looked good but writing Swiatek off seems positively foolish. Cracking match that is in the balance now.

There is just something about tennis under a roof.

I just absolutely love it.

Pin-drop silence as a cross-court back-hand winner wrongfoots the world No 1 and there’s life in Danielle Collins’ Australian Open campaign yet.

I told you she wasn’t done after that first set!

No, Ben. The answer is no.

Work to do at the start of the second set though…

I wish I was joking… but the British weather has hit Melbourne and it’s soaking again on the outside courts.

Can someone invent a giant umbrella to whack over the court? Delivery – ASAP.

The British No 1 closes out the third set to love and truth be told it looked like Guilio Zeppieri sort of gave that one up to preserve his energy for the fourth.

A 47-second hold of serve speaks volumes.

But it is game on now (and means a longer wait for Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, with their matches to follow on this 1573 Arena court)

Cameron Norrie* 3-6, 6-7, 5-2 Guilio Zeppieri

Wow – two double faults in a row and that’s a gift Cameron Norrie will take again and again and again.

The British No 1 now has the chance to serve out this first set to halve the deficit.

A double fault from Zeppieri and opportunity knocks here…

Mike was one of the titans of the sport off the court and players right across the rankings have been deeply affected.

This is a poignant tribute from the great Rafa Nadal, who Mike covered so extensively during his 33 years with the Mail.

I really don’t like how much on the backfoot Norrie looks in these points.

Even on his own serve it doesn’t look quite right. The Italian just looks in control of a lot of these points.

The constant stop-start nature of this match cannot have helped Norrie, especially after his Medical Time-Out in the opening stages.

The world No 1 takes the opening set 6-4 against Danielle Collins and her roar of celebration suggests she knows very well that she is in a real battle here.

Collins has more than enough to turn this around but it’s a tough ask from here against the brick wall that is Swiatek, who had a 74% first serve percentage.

Some light applause for the Brit as he and his tennis bag return to the court. No sign of Guilio Zeppieri yet.

The 1573 Arena has just had about a 25-minute break. My concern is that while the court is dry now, there’s a menacing black cloud hanging overhead.

Can that just clear off please? Thanks, from every tennis fan everywhere.

Now, now. You CANNOT open the door like that to the world No 1.

Danielle Collins is forced to take a bit of zip off her second serve and that is all the encouragement Swiatek needs to break at 5-4, with a smart volley into the empty court leaving a dejected Collins watching on.

She will serve for the set now.

I don’t want to get carried away here but I think that might be actual sunlight flowing over the outside courts.

It also helps that the surfaces no longer look super slick and like they’ve been soaked by a hose-pipe.

Truth be told, I hadn’t been tracking this one too closely as it looked set to be a routine win for Zverev.

He took the first set 7-5 against Lukas Klein – the world No 163 – and yet it’s been disastrous for the German from that moment on.

Beaten 6-3 in the second set, he’s now down an early break in the third.

Stories like this just make me feel very single – I don’t know about you guys.

But find out which lucky charm bonds one of tennis’ power couples…

When I tell you these two are serving up an absolute treat on Rod Laver Arena I mean it.

The quality of the ball striking and the power behind them is something to behold.

Every break is going to be absolutely huge in this one with so little between them.

Safe to say, fans are less than impressed at the ball kids being made to wipe these courts down with a towel on their hands and knees.

Frankly, they’ve got a point. Surely this isn’t in the job description?!

Iga Swiatek 3-3 (40-40) *Danielle Collins

We do have match action over on Rod Laver Arena following a short delay to close the roof there.

Two titans are in action and it is going to serve right now.

I marvel every time I get to see the Swiatek backhand. What a fabulous shot from a fabulous player.

Umbrellas are out in the stands and hoods are up as the players head into the locker room.

That court is completely washed now and is in no state to play a match of tennis on.

Annoying – yes – but sensible heads have prevailed.

Cameron Norrie is getting annoyed now, and I don’t blame him.

Just as he launches an ace to go up 15-0 in the sixth game of the third set, play is stopped again.

But it is dangerous on court now with the amount of sudden rain and with puddles forming, there’s not a lot of choice for the chair umpire.

Let’s see how long this one lasts…

Play still suspended on some of the courts, so here is a brilliant clip of Nick Kyrgios – in the commentary booth rather than on court in this tournament – having a hilarious exchange with Novak Djokovic.

Well worth a few minutes of your time.

Zeppieri holds to get on the board.

Cameron Norrie leads 2-1 in the third.

Quick rub down of the baselines with towels from the ball-kids and we should be back up and running on the outside courts shortly.

Cameron Norrie best hope he hasn’t lost the momentum he was building.

While he wait for play to resume, let’s look at another beautiful tribute to our legendary tennis correspondent Mike Dickson.

This one comes from former BBC presenter Sue Barker, who could call Mike a friend after so many years working across tennis.

OK so it’s raining, the black cloud has finally let rip and with Norrie leading 2-0 in the third and at deuce as he eyes a second break, play has been temporarily suspended due to rain.

Ball kids are hesitantly making their way off but buckle up, this is going to take a while…

It’s going to serve over on the Rod Laver Arena at 3-3 as two heavyweights of the women’s game slug it out.

I’ll keep you across that one… but don’t bet against Danielle Collins causing a shock.

Cameron Norrie comes out with an enhanced level of aggression and breaks in the opening game of the third set.

He’s got a mountain to climb still – and it’s still unlikely – but that’s how you need to start if you are going to come back from two sets down.

Now he needs to turn the screw and hold. Looks like he has the bit between his teeth now which I like a lot.

There is plenty to get our teeth stuck into but this is the current state of play.

Note: Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu’s matches follow on the same court as Norrie-Zeppieri, so if this goes five sets, we could be here a while.

Jack Draper: Faces Tommy Paul, who was a semi-finalist here last year, at around 2am.

Katie Boulter: Faces China’s Qinwen Zheng directly after Norrie, which could be as early as 2.15am.

Emma Raducanu: Will not take to the court before 3.30am – and could be even later – as she takes on China’s Wang Yafan.

British No 1 Cameron Norrie is in a real hole here, down two sets to love to world No 133 Guilio Zeppieri.

The Italian is playing lights out tennis and while he stuttered with the first of his three set points, he closed it out with an unreturnable first serve.

Two errors at the end of big rallies has Norrie shouting out in disbelief.

It really is admirable defence from Zeppieri, it really is, and he leads 5-2 in this seven-point tiebreak as he bids to go two sets up.

Giulio Zeppieri holds. Impressive resolve there.

Well, Katie Boulter, Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are waiting patiently for their matches to start and are, like me, keeping an eye on events between Cameron Norrie and Giulio Zeppieri.

The plucky Italian took the first set impressively 6-3 but a key break for Norrie down 5-4 has seen momentum swing to the point where he is on the cusp of another break up 6-5.

He really needs this set or it’s a mountain to climb…

The world of tennis was in mourning at news of Mike’s sudden passing.

Here are just some of the tributes that flooded in for one of the titans of the reporting room.

It’s important to me and to the Mail that we start this live blog off in tribute to a great man and a great reporter.

News that our legendary tennis writer – affectionately known as Mr Wimbledon – Mike Dickson had passed away over in Melbourne covering the Open this week proved devastating for all.

He was excited for these upcoming matches, charting the highs and lows of the Brits with so many in action here today.

So, this one is to you Mike. Rest easy.

Good morning one and all,

For those of us braving the early hours for Australian Open action, well played.

I’ll be here for the next several hours to keep you across all the events in Melbourne, from Cameron Norrie’s struggles against an Italian qualifier, to Katie Boulter, Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu.

Four Brits remain in singles, but how many will make round three? Let’s find out…