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• Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email

De Minaur and MacDonald have met twice before with the Australian winning on both occasions, but the most recent of those was indoors in 2022, so it’s unlikely to be playing on the minds of either combatant.

This is De Minaur’s fourth match of 2026, following a United Cup campaign for Australia that saw him defeat Hubert Hurkacz and Jakub Mensik, and lose to Casper Ruud.

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Travis Head walks out to bat with his opening partner Scott Boland. Imagine if you had predicted, on the first morning at Perth, that Australia would use four openers in the first four Tests – and that Usman Khawaja would not be among them.

“Dear Rob,” writes Robert Wilson. “I’ve got skin in the game as I am trying to arrange an all-night viewing sesh for day (night) three in an unexpectedly swish Aussie backpacker hostel near Stalingrad (in Paris). Logistically, it’s quite a lot of ducks to get in a row and punters fagging all the way in from below-zero Versailles or somesuch only to catch four overs while nursing a lukewarm Newky Brown might have views.