(Live commentary has concluded)
Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-4, 6-7, 6-4
11:22pm - 5th match point for Hurkacz ...... and he does it with a big ace down the middle and heads to the semi-finals.
11:17pm - Lopez holds but must break serve here or face a quarter-final exit.
11:14pm - Hurkacz holds easily and now Lopez will need to hold to stay in the match.
11:11pm - Lopez holds but trails by a break 4-3 in the third.
11:08pm - Hurkacz holds to maintain his advantage ... 4-2 third set.
11:03pm - Lopez and Hurkacz both hold but the Pole has a 3-2 final set lead with a break.
10:55pm - Lopez holds but still trails by a break in the final set ... 2-1 Hurkacz.
10:51pm - Hurkacz scores the early final set break with a splendid return of serve on game point.
10:42pm - And Lopez does indeed extend the match into a third set with the tie-break win.
10:41pm - And he does and now has a set point himself with a nice put-away volley at the net.
10:40pm - Lopez hits a huge forehand cross court to save match point, but now he will need to save another on his serve.
10:40pm - Another match point coming for Hurkacz and on serve.
10:39pm - Tremendous return from Hurkacz saves match point.
10:38pm - Hurkacz saves with a big wide first serve but Lopez will serve for the set after a forehand goes long from Hurkacz .... 9-8 Lopez.
10:36pm - Set point now for Lopez.
10:35pm - Lopez saves another! Great passing shot that shoots by an approaching Hurkacz .... 7-7.
10:34pm - Superb passing shot from Hurkacz and he has a 4th match point.
10:33pm - Two big serves from Lopez has him back to 6-5 and now he is back to 6-6!.
10:31pm - Hurkacz has three match points at 6-3.
10:30pm - Lopez back to 5-3 now.
10:29pm - Hurkacz up 5-1 now and just a couple points from the final four.
10:27pm - Hurkacz earns the mini-break .... leads 3-1 in the breaker.
10:26pm - Lopez does indeed hold and forces a second set tie-break.
10:21pm - Hurkacz holds to love and will again force Lopez to serve to save the match.
10:20pm - Lopez hold so we are at 5-5.
10:15pm - Still on serve .... but Lopez now needs to hold to stay in the match at 5-4 Hurkacz.
10:08pm - Hurkacz holds with ease and is a set up with a 4-3 second set lead.
10:06pm - Lopez fights off a break point and levels things up at 3-3 in the second.
10:01pm - Hurkacz survives a scare on serve and holds for a 3-2 second set lead.
9:54pm - On serve in the second .... Jurkacz leads 2-1.
9:51pm - Hurkacz holds to open the second set.
9:44pm - And he gets the set with a lovely back hand passing shot down the line .... the young Pole wins the set 6-4.
9:43pm - Three set points for Hurkacz on Lopez's serve.
9:42pm - Lopez serving to stay in the set at 4-5.
9:36pm - Again both players holding serve .... Hurkacz leads 4-3.
9:23pm - Both players holding with ease ..... Hurkacz leads 3-2 first set.
9:18pm - On serve in the first .... Hurkacz leads 2-1.
8:55pm - Next up will be sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz vs Feliciano Lopez.
8:54pm - Benoit Paire (France) beat John Millman (Australia) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
8:53pm - Millman hits hos forehand return long and Paire claims the matcg with a comeback win to books a spot in the semi-finals.
8:52pm - Paire pulls out three big serves and has two match points.
8:49pm - Millman holds with ease, but Paire will serve for the match after the change of ends at 5-4.
8:45pm - And Paire holds after saving a couple break points fir a 5-3 lead in the final set.
8:43pm - Paire fights back from 0-30 down to a game point, but he hits a volley wide and we are at deuce.
8:38pm - Both Paire and Millman hold but it's the Frenchman who has the advantage with a 4-3 lead and break in the third set.
8:31pm - And he does get it .... Millman hits a forehand long and Paire now leads 3-2 with a break in the deciding set.
8:30pm - Millman with a glorious passing shot to save the break but Paire replies with a winner himself to get a second break point.
8:29pm - Paire playing some sublime tennis now, volleys at the net for a break point at 30-40 on Millman's serve at 2-2.
8:21pm - Both Paire and Millman hold easily, but the Australian has the led 2-1 on serve in the third.
8:13pm - Millman bounces back with a solid service game to take a 1-0 lead in the third.
8:08pm - Paire holds to claim the second set 6-1 .... game has changed in no time.
8:07pm - And he does get the break with a magnificent cross court winner from the baseline on the run .... 5-1 Paire second set.
8:06pm - Two break-points for a 5-1 lead for Paire.
8:02pm - And the Frenchman holds to extend his lead to 4-1.
7:59pm - Paire is back in it with an early second set break on Millman .... he leads 3-1.
7:54pm - On serve in the second but Paire struggling to hold ..... 2-1 to the Frenchman but he is down a set.
7:42pm - Millman fights back from 0-30 down to claim the game and the first set 6-3.
7:39pm - Paire holds, leaving it to Millman to serve it out for the first set.
7:37pm - Both players hold with ease, but it's Millman with the 5-2 lead.
7:30pm - Paire holds to love then pushed Millman hard in the fifth game of the first set, but the Australian forced a couple of mistakes and holds his service break lead. 4-1.
7:19pm - Millman has the early service break and leads 3-0 at the first change of ends.
7:02pm - Welcome back ... next up we have Australian John Milman up against Benoit Paire the fifth seeded Frenchman.
We will be back at 7pm for the third and fourth quarter-finals.
6:03pm - Ugo Humbert (France) beat Denis Shapovalov (Canada) 7-5, 6-4
6:01pm - Double fault from Shapovalov and that's that. A very good and professional performance from Humbert to take out the No.2 seed.
6:00pm - Humbert has a break and match point at 30-40.
5:54pm - Shapovalov and Humbert hold to love and the latter leads the Canadian a set and 5-4 in the second.
5:51pm - M. Daniell (NZ)/P. Oswald (Poland) beat F. Neilson (Denmark)/T. Puets (Germany) 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 (STB)
5:50pm - Kiwi Marcus Daniell is into the double semi-finals.
5:49pm - Both guys firing on serve and it's 4-3 Humbert in the second.
5:42pm - Kiwi Marcus Daniell and his partner have levelled things up on the Grandstand Court .... 4-6, 6-1 and 3-3 in the third set super tie-break.
5:41pm - Humbert holds and takes a 3-2 second set lead.
5:39pm - Humbert forces the mistake and break point is saved.
5:37pm - Shapovalov has a break point in the fifth game of the second set.
5:30pm - Both Humbert and Shapovalov hold with ease and it's 2-1 to the Frenchman ..... Marcus Daniell down a set but up a break in his doubles quarter-final.
5:27pm - Humbert holds in the first game of the second set.
5:21pm - Humbert finally break in a long Shapovalov service game and takes the first set 7-5. Marcus Daniell is down a set in his double quarter-final.
5:09pm - Both Shapovalov and Humbert hold with ease and it's 5-4 to the Frenchman .... no services breaks across nearly three-sets of centre court singles action today.
5:02pm - Still on serve in the first, although Shapovalov is having to fight hard in his service games .... 4-3 to Humbert. Kiwi Marcus Daniell trails 4-2 in the first set of his doubles quarter-final.
4:50pm - Shapovalov and Humbert on serve at 2-2 in the first, meanwhile Marcus Daniell and his partner Philipp Oswald trail Neilsen and Puets 2-0 in the first.
4:24pm - Next up on centre court is the second quarter-final between Denis Shapovalov and Ugo Humbert........Kiwi Marcus Daniel about to get underway in his double quarter-final on the Grandstand court.
4:16pm - John Isner (US) beat Kyle Edmund (UK) 7-6, 7-6
4:14pm - Isner wins four straight points in the tie-break to take out the match.
4:06pm - Two big aces and Isner holds ... tie-break.
4:05pm - Another two set points save by the American with his big serve.
4:03pm - Isner saves a set point with his 21st ace of the match.
3:57pm - Both continue to dominate on serve .... 6-5 Edmund, on serve in the second set.
3:45pm - Isner and Edmund continue to battle on serve at 4-4 in the second set. The American is now up to 13 aces - five in this set.
Each has had break-point opportunities - Edmund four and Isner one - but haven't converted.
3:13pm - Isner wins a tiebreak 7-5 to take the first set over Edmund. Bear in mind, the American played 52 tiebreak sets and 73 the year before, so that's his 'modus operandi'.
This was his sixth tiebreak set of 2020 already.
2:44pm - Games on serve at 4-3 between Isner and Edmund, but the Briton has held four breakpoints, without quite converting. Each time, the big American just booms down another big serve - he's had eight aces already.
1:59pm - Sander Gille (Belgium)/Joran Vliegen (Belgium) beat Divij Sharan (India)/Artem Sitak (NZ) 5-7 7-6 11-9
Kiwi Sitak bows out of the ASB Classic doubles, leaving Marcus Daniell as New Zealand's only remaining representative at the tournament - he and Philipp Oswald play at 4pm.
Gille/Vliegen now take on Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan in the semi-finals.
Next on Centrecourt, Briton Kyle Edmund faces American fourth seed John Isner in singles play.
Big-serving Isner is currently ranked 20th in the world - 49 spots ahead of his opponent - and holds a 2-1 career advantage, including the last encounter at last year's ATP Masters 1000 Miami.
1:42pm - Gille/Vliegen win a second-set tiebreak 7-3 and will take that momentum into a super-tiebreak to decide the match against Sharan/Sitak.
1:29pm - Sitak gets a lucky break off the top of the net to break service and put the second set back on serve against Gille/Vliegen.
Grandstand will remain idle until 4pm, when Kiwi Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald face Frederik Nielsen/Tim Puetz.
The three seeded combos are now gone from the doubles draw, with Krajicek/Skugor the best remaining.
1:20pm - Luke Bambridge (Great Britain)/Ben McLachlan (Japan) beat 3-Rohan Bopanna (India)/Henri Kontinen (Finland) 6-3 6-4
Bambridge and NZ-born McLachlan have duly secured victory, advancing to the doubles semi-finals, where they'll face either Sharan/Sitak or Gille/Vliegen.
The Belgians are still up a break on Centrecourt and pushing to close out the set on Sitak's serve.
1:15pm - Sitak/Sharan were broken early in the second set, but have broken back and are now battling to close out a win over their Belgian opponents on Centrecourt.
Bambridge/McLachlan are serving for the match on the Grandstand court.
12:49pm - Bambridge/McLachlan have taken the first set 6-3 against Bopanna/Kontinen, so perhaps we're about to lost another seeded combo from the doubles.
On Centrecourt, Kiwi Artem Sitak and Divij Sharan have also taken the first set 7-5 against Gille/Vliegen.
12:08pm - 4-Austin Krajicek (USA)/Franko Skugor (Croatia) beat Cominic Inglot (Great Britain)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) 6-2 6-2
Krajicek/Skugor have wasted little time dispatching their opponents 6-2 6-2 in just 53 minutes, booking a semi-final match against either Marcus Daniell/Philipp Oswald or Frederik Nielsen/Tim Puetz, who meet later this afternoon.
Next up on the outside court, third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Henri Kontinen - the highest seeded pair left in the tournament - will take on Luke Bambridge and NZ-born Ben McLachlain, nowadays based in Japan.
On Centrecourt, Kiwi Artem Sitak and Divij Sharan - who ousted Venus and Peers yesterday - will take on Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.
11:40am - Fourth seeds Krajicek & Skugor break their rivals twice to take the first set 6-2 against Inglot/Qureshi.
11:15am - First match of the day is underway, with Inglot/Qureshi taking on Krajicek/Skugor on the Grandstand court. Games are with service at 1-1.
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Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the ASB Classic men's tournament, which is now up to speed after rain delays and a massive catch-up schedule on Wednesday.
With the shock departure of Kiwi ace Michael Venus, hometown fans still have two other doubes specialists to support through the business end of the draw, with Artem Sitak and former champion Marcus Daniell is alive.
Singles top seed Fabio Fognini also crashed and burned on Wednesday, leaving Canadian second seed Denis Shapovalov as the highest-ranked survivor. He faces Frenchman Ugo Humbert on Centrecourt this afternoon.
The full ASB Classic schedule for Thursday is:
GRANDSTAND
11am
Doubles Quarter-final
Dominic Inglot (GB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) v 4-Austin Krajicek (USA)/Franko Skugor (Croatia)
Followed by
Doubles Quarter-final
3-Rohan Bopanna (India)/Henri Kontinen (Finland) v Luke Bambridge (GB)/Ben McLachlan (Japan)
Not before 4pm
Doubles Quarter-final
Marcus Daniell (NZ)/Philipp Oswald (Austria) v Frederik Nielsen (Denmark)/Tim Puetz (Germany)
CENTRECOURT
Noon
Doubles Quarter-final
Divij Sharan (India)/Artem Sitak (NZ) v Sander Gille (Belgium)/Joran Vliegen (Belgium)
Not before 2pm
Singles Quarterfinal
Kyle Edmund (GB) v 4-John Isner (USA)
Followed by
Singles Quarterfinal
Ugo Humbert (France) v 2-Denis Shapovalov (Canada)
Not before 7pm
John Millman (Australia) v 5-Benoit Paire (France)
Followed by
Feliciano Lopez (Spain) v 6-Hubert Hurkacz (Poland)
Kiwi top seed Venus tumbles to stunning ASB Classic loss
Top-seeded Kiwi doubles hope Michael Venus and partner John Peers have fallen to a shock 7-6 7-6 loss in the opening round of the men's ASB Classic in Auckland.
The 2017 French Open champion and his new Australian cohort came up short on key points, as the unseeded duo of Kiwi Artem Sitak and Indian Divaj Sharan came up trumps in tiebreakers to advance to the quarter-finals.
The result was hugely disappointing for Venus, who was also bundled out of the singles draw in the first round by Tennys Sandgren on Monday.
Just a couple of hours after Venus' exit, the tournament also lost its singles top seed, as Spain's Feliciano Lopez - playing in his second match of the day - sent Italy's Fabio Fognini packing 3-6 6-4 6-3.
The unseeded veteran blasted 17 aces on his way to victory over Fognini, who needed medical treatment for a lower-back issue during the second-set break.
Briton Kyle Edmund booked his spot in the next round with a 6-3 7-6 win over Italian Andreas Seppi.
Second seed Canadian Denis Shapovalov needed just two sets to overcome fellow countryman Vasek Pospisil 6-4 7-6.
In other singles results, Sandgren suffered a 6-7 7-6 3-6 loss to big-serving American John Isner, Marco Cecchinato prevailed in an epic three-set clash with Leonardo Mayer.
Poland's Hubert Hurkacz defeated promising young Swede Mikael Ymer 6-2 7-6, while Lopez claimed his first win of the day against compatriot Pablo Andujar 3-6 7-6 6-4.