Andy Murray clawed out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa, with the British second seed apparently unaware that his tennis coach father-in-law had collapsed on a nearby court and was taken to hospital on Saturday.
Briton Nigel Sears, also coach of Ana Ivanovic who was playing a match at the time, was stretchered out of the Rod Laver Arena.
Play in the match was suspended for almost an hour, resuming as Madison Keys beat Ivanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The Briton, 58, whose daughter Kim is married to Murray, was reported by the Seven Network to be talking to doctors.
Murray would have remained unaware of the drama as he fought off Sousa, whom he has now defeated for the seventh time. Murray left the court following his victory without the standard post-match interview.
He later answered one question about his match:
“I thought I struggled. At the beginning I think he was extremely aggressive, very intense.
“It was tricky. I didn’t feel great. Though I returned well, I didn’t get to hit that many groundstrokes, didn’t feel I was in a great rhythm, wasn’t hitting the ball clean at the start.
“He was hitting the ball great, close to the lines, and making me do a lot of running. I just tried to keep fighting. At the end I was actually hitting the ball well and felt better at the end. It was good to get through that.
“I thought I struggled. At the beginning I think he was extremely aggressive, very intense.”
Murray’s wife Kim Sears remains in London about to give birth in February. Her 28-year-old husband has been on high alert, ready to drop everything in Melbourne and fly home if word of an impending birth were to come during the grand slam.
Murray is fighting for a fifth final in Melbourne, where he has lost four title bids.
The 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka steamrolled into the second week as the Swiss fourth seed crushed Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to continue his quest for a third grand slam trophy.
The Melbourne winner who followed up with the Roland Garros title last summer, has not lost a set so far after staking his title claim with an 18-ace performance.
Wawrinka will next take on Milos Raonic, who advanced on a day of tragedy for Canada after a school shooting. But the 13th seed maintained focus to beat Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in a battle of pre-Open tournament winners.
