BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Max McLaughlin raced home to his second Super DIRTcar Series win and his first trip to Volusia Speedway Park’s confetti-filled victory lane on Thursday night during the 50th DIRTcar Nationals.

The 20-year-old pilot of the No. 32C Sweetener’s Plus big-block modified was just barely able to box out future Hall of Famer Billy Decker in a wild finish where the two swapped lines on the track trying to block and slide each other at the same time. Hard charger Michael Maresca in the No. 7MM car cruised from 19th to third in an amazing run through the field.

After a lengthy rain delay, drama built quickly in the 30-lap feature as McLaughlin made contact with seven-time Series champion Matt Sheppard on the first lap, sending Sheppard’s No. 9S up the race track and into Peter Britten’s No. 21A. Sheppard made his displeasure with McLaughlin known during the caution flag, but was able to recover for a fifth-place finish.

“I got into the water there on lap one,” said McLaughlin. “It was a bonehead move, I guess. They checked up and he [Matt Sheppard] started pushing and I figured I’d go right below him. The left front hit the water and pushed up and I got into Matt. I hate that. That’s kind of what I was thinking about the whole race.”

When the race returned to green flag action, McLaughlin had to contend with some heavy hitters. McLaughlin found a way around defending Series champion Mat Williamson as well as Jimmy Phelps, who started on the outside pole.

However, once McLaughlin took the lead on Lap 15 there was no time to relax. Decker had his Gypsum Wholesalers No. 91 at full song around the top side of the speedway in pursuit during the closing stages.

“I didn’t really know where he was but I knew he was coming around the top,” McLaughlin said. “I knew I had to change something and I saw the [signal] sticks get smaller and smaller. I had to do something different.”

With an adjustment of his line, McLaughlin was able to hold Decker’s crimson #91 at bay.

Decker did all he could to try and pass for the lead.

“We had to go where he wasn’t,” said Decker. “I think we were as good as he was on the bottom, but he fired a little better on the restarts than we did. After a few laps, I think we got it rolling so it was one of those deals where he had to stick to his lane. I started hazing the outside and closing the gap. He obviously got the signal from the infield to move. If he didn’t, he was going to finish where I did. He had to move and I didn’t get him soon enough.”

Decker will look to improve just one more position Friday night for a coveted 50th Anniversary DIRTcar Nationals win.

Maresca advanced 16 positions to capture his second consecutive third-place finish. The No. 7MM started the night behind the eight-ball.

“We buried ourselves in a hole in qualifying,” Maresca said. “We had a really good car all night. I think with it being a little bit wetter, I think it threw me off on my gear selection. We were able to capitalize on good restarts.”

A fast, widening race track gave him what he needed to work through two-thirds of the field in 30 laps. Unfortunately, for the pilot of the St. Lawrence Radiology Big Block Modified, Decker and McLaughlin were just a click faster.

“Congrats to Max and Billy,” Maresca said. “I couldn’t keep up with them. I think I was just a little bit under-geared for that. But I know our car is good so we are just going to keep trucking and hopefully contend for a win tomorrow.”

The finish:

1. 32C-Max McLaughlin [5][$4,000]; 2. 91-Billy Decker [11][$2,000]; 3. 7MM-Michael Maresca [19][$1,000]; 4. 88-Mat Williamson [4][$800]; 5. 9S-Matt Sheppard [3][$700]; 6. 25-Erick Rudolph [15][$650]; 7. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [2][$600]; 8. 23-Kyle Coffey [21][$550]; 9. 21A-Peter Britten [6][$500]; 10. 1D-Tyler Dippel [10][$450]; 11. 8-Rich Scagliotta [14][$400]; 12. 7F-Tim Fuller [12][$375]; 13. 4-Billy VanInwegen [23][$350]; 14. 16X-Dan Creeden [26][$325]; 15. 118-Jim Britt [9][$300]; 16. 19M-Jessey Mueller [13][$300]; 17. 17D-Marcus Dinkins [25][$300]; 18. 1-Darwin Greene [22][$300]; 19. 20-Brett Hearn [16][$300]; 20. 14-CG Morey [29][$300]; 21. 88T-Tyler Jashembowski [17][$300]; 22. 30-Ryan Godown [8][$300]; 23. 6-Matt Stangle [1][$300]; 24. 2-Jack Lehner [7][$300]; 25. 33T-Cass Bennett [27][$300]; 26. 01W-Justin Wright [24][$300]; 27. 17-Rob Pitcher [20][$300]; 28. B52-Brandon Hightower [28][$300]; 29. 26-Derrick McGrew [18][$300].

OCALA, Fla. – Kevin Thomas Jr. returned to USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series victory lane for the first time in 16 months Thursday during the opening round of the season at Bubba Raceway Park.

Thomas corralled the lead from Kyle Cummins in traffic on the 14th circuit of the 30-lap feature and led the remaining 17 trips around the three-eighths-mile dirt track to triumph for the 28th time with the USAC National Sprint Cars, tying himself with A.J. Foyt, Chris Windom, Don Branson, J.J. Yeley and Levi Jones for 16th on the all-time series win list.

Thursday’s non-stop, green to checkered feature event clocked in as the fastest 30-lap USAC Sprint Car feature ever run at Bubba Raceway Park, taking seven minutes and 45.762 seconds to complete.

It was an unforeseen winless drought for Thomas, one of the series’ premier drivers, who has endured a tumultuous 16 months.

“It took longer than I expected to battle adversity, but we did it,” Thomas said.  “I like to win races, and I like to do it with the people that are behind us.  Ever since Dr. Pepper and McDonald’s came on board, I have not given them what they came on board for. I take full responsibility for that. I had to get things turned around because I’ve got a group of people that are behind me who are really good people and really fun to work with. I’ve got to have success for those people.”

Although he had previously won twice with the POWRi Midgets at Ocala in 2018, Thursday marked Thomas’ first in USAC National Sprint Car competition at the track. The win was actually his second during Winter Dirt Games, having won a round with the series when it was held at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., in 2015.

Starting third, Thomas chased leader Kyle Cummins and second-running Justin Grant for the first third of the event before making his move, driving under Grant in turn three while in the throes of traffic, then steadfastly zeroed in on Cummins one lap later off the bottom of the fourth turn to secure the lead on the 14th lap.

Grant clamped down to slip past Cummins with five laps remaining for second, but Thomas had already staked his claim at the front by then, holding a 2.3-second lead, which would ultimately balloon to a 2.769-second advantage at the finish line with Grant, Cummins, hard charger Brady Bacon (from 12th) and Tyler Courtney following him to the checkered.

For Thomas, it was all about patience, and finding the path to victory first before anybody else discovered it.

“You just had to work patiently,” Thomas explained. “You had to wait until they got impatient with traffic, try to move a little bit, then you could pounce on them. That was the biggest key, and there are a few little tracks to getting down the back stretch. If you don’t figure those out early, somebody’s going to snooker you and there’s a couple guys around here that know where it is and we just happened to find it first. We were in a good position to do that. We got to third right off the bat and didn’t have to battle too hard for that. We just got there, rode around, rode around, and I saw a few moves where a people were making mistakes and getting a little impatient trying to get the guy in front of them. You jump on them, and then you do it the next time once you get to lapped traffic. It was just a big patience game out there. The track was fast, but you still had to be patient, just jump on them whenever you can don’t make any mistakes.”

Grant finished second in his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink – MPV Express – TOPP Industries/Maxim/Kistler Chevy. Cummins was third, followed by Bacon and Tyler Courtney.

For full results, advance to the next page.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Spencer Davis Motorsports announced Friday that Candan Industries Pty Ltd. has joined the team to promote the brand’s INOX brand beginning with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

INOX Supreme Lubricants will be featured on Davis’s No. 11 Toyota Tundra for the full NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

A wholly owned Australian company, Candan Industries is now exporting to more than 25 countries including the United States of America, Canada, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Excited to have a long-time friendship turn into more for Daytona with INOX Supreme Lubricants,” said Davis. “It feels great going into 2021 with a new scheme and an awesome sponsor, can’t thank Angel and James at INOX enough for this opportunity and partnership with our small team.

“Looking forward to having them more on this year hopefully, thrilled to be a brand ambassador and represent them to the best of our ability. We use their products day to day on our race team and in our machines at our business. A quality product and amazing people helped to bring this all together.”

Davis, a native of Dawsonville, Ga. is poised to make his second NCWTS start at Daytona. He made his track debut at Daytona in 2018, finishing seventh in a truck fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports.

The two-time ARCA Menards Series East winner ran a majority of the Truck Series schedule last season for his family-owned team and produced respectable results, including a season-high 12th at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway last February.

“Daytona is the glory of Motorsports and it is a very stacked field for this weekend, but I feel confident in our abilities to get the job done for INOX and all of our partners at Spencer Davis Motorsports,” added Davis.

“In 2018 it was about being smart and listening to your spotter and doing the best not to put yourself in a bad situation. I feel like we should have a lot of speed with our No. 11 INOX Supreme Lubricants Toyota Tundra and hope to showcase that on Friday night.”

After Year 1 of the Ladies European Tour’s joint venture with the LPGA was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the LET has big plans for 2021.

The LET announced Friday its competition schedule, which begins in May and includes 27 events in addition to the Solheim Cup and Olympics. Players will also compete for a record-breaking purse of 19 million euros, up 2 million from last year’s planned total prize money.

Every postponed tournament from last year returned, the LET said, while five new stroke-play events, including the Scandinavian Mixed event revealed last year, were added, along with the Aramco Team Series slate that will include four tournaments in New York, Singapore, the U.K and Saudi Arabia. These team events will feature purses of 830,000 million euros each.

“We are extremely excited to announce our record-breaking schedule for 2021 and thrilled to offer some good news to our membership after a difficult season last year,” LET CEO Alexandra Armas said. “The LET is dedicated to supporting our members and growing the game of golf to new and existing markets and we are proud to confirm the return of not only all postponed events but the addition of several new and innovative tournaments, which shows just how much interest and momentum there is behind women’s sport. I would like to thank our sponsors, partners and all the federations that have shown their belief, vision and perseverance and we look forward to delivering an action-packed calendar for our international membership.”

For the full schedule, click here.

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has taken aim at Gareth Bale over an Instagram post which appeared to indicate the winger was fit and available by insisting it was "totally wrong" and "contradicted reality."

Bale has started just two Premier League games since re-signing on loan from Real Madrid in September amid lingering fitness issues.

- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
- Insider Notebook: Varane on Man Utd's defensive shortlist
- Olley: Man City rematch will show if Mourinho can win a trophy

Mourinho has used the 31-year-old sparingly when he has been available and Bale seemed to suggest he was ready to take part in Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Everton, by posting on Monday that he had enjoyed a "good session today" underneath a picture of him training.

However, speaking at a news conference on Friday ahead of Spurs' weekend trip to Manchester City, Mourinho said: "I hope the press conference is about the game and not about individuals but I have to admit his post created a need of being addressed because there was a contradiction between the post and reality.

"Since the beginning of the season, in relation to everything I try to be very private and keep everything indoors. But I felt that I need to address the situation, you know. Probably the post was not even his responsibility, I don't know.

"But the post was showing that training session was great so I'm ready but it was totally wrong. So when I was questioned I had to say the reality of the things which I repeat for the last time and I hope there are no more questions about it because the situation was exactly the way I told.

"He was not feeling good, he asked for a scan, the scan didn't show an injury but his feelings were still there and sports science people, medical, coaches can never go against feelings because the players feelings are more important than all of us.

"So he was not ready for the game and it was as simple as that. If he's ready for tomorrow's he's selected for tomorrow."

It is no more 16:1. The yo-yo test level for the Indian men's cricketers has been raised to 17:1. In addition, the BCCI has also added a new fitness parameter: run a two-kilometre time trial, which is now a global fitness standard employed by international cricket teams. It is understood that players have the choice to pick either the yo-yo test or the time trial, but the BCCI has made it mandatory to clear one of the two fitness tests.

These two elements are part of the BCCI's drive to raise the fitness standards of Indian players and bring them closer to the global standards. It is understood the BCCI finalised the new fitness parameters in tandem with the National Cricket Academy, which is headed by former India captain Rahul Dravid, and the national selectors recently.

While the yo-yo test involves shuttling over a 20-metre distance at increasing speeds, the two-kilometre time trial has to be accomplished in 8 minutes and 15 seconds for fast bowlers, and 8 minutes and 30 seconds for the rest.

ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI recently sent a list of about 25 players to the NCA, which has the authority to conduct the fitness tests. This pool of names has been shortlisted keeping in mind not just the white-ball segment of the ongoing home series against England but also as part of preparing for the hectic schedule the Indian players will have in 2021, comprising the IPL, the tour of England, a likely Asia Cup, followed by the T20 World Cup in October-November.

Accordingly, the first batch of players travelled to Bengaluru in the first week of February to take the tests. This batch included Shikhar Dhawan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Siddarth Kaul, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Rana, Devdutt Padikkal and Rahul Tewatia.

It is understood several of the aforementioned players failed to pass the test of their choice at the first trial, conducted on February 8. Those who failed took the test once again on Thursday, and cleared it. Some of them, including Unadkat, Kishan and Siddharth Kaul, also posted a picture stating they had cleared the yo-yo test.

It is understood that some of the players switched from the time trial, which they had failed at, to the yo-yo test. The players welcomed the new set of fitness tests, but wanted more preparation time in future to pass the tests in a better fashion. Although most of the players had played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which concluded in January, they were called for the tests during the downtime, before they travel to different venues to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which starts from February 20.

It is understood that more players will be undergoing the fitness tests soon. Among those present currently at the NCA include Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar and T Natarajan. Some of these players are also finishing their rehab from injuries picked up during, and before, the Australia tour.

Those monitoring the developments pointed out that it was not a concern in case the player failed the tests at first attempt. The key factor was the players needed to be aware about the reason behind the enhanced levels of testing, including the time trial. The BCCI felt that in an increasingly busy schedule, players need to be able to recover quickly between matches while maintaining peak fitness, and also maintain endurance, regardless of age or skill.

The time-trial, it is understood, has also been introduced to help push fitness levels up further.

Basu Shanker, who was the Indian team's strength and conditioning coach when the yo-yo test was introduced in 2015, welcomed the addition of time trial. "2k is a good test where you assess the basic conditioning of an athlete and general fitness level. The 2k is similar to the Cooper test. It gives you an idea about your aerobic fitness and your basic conditioning. Let's say if you are gym goer, if you run the 2k on Speed 10 you might run it in 12 minutes. Here they are asking them to run in 8.15 or 8.30 seconds, which is fairly decent. Other countries have something like 7 or 7.30s. Again, all these things are good because at least people start taken fitness even more seriously."

According to Basu, even the yo-yo test measures the aerobic capacity of the athlete, but has the additional anaerobic component. "Every time you run 20 metres, you need to accelerate and decelerate, right? That is how this sport is played. In cricket nothing linear.You will run 20 metres, then if you are chasing a ball you will sprint for 20 metres and then decelerate for 10 metres. So I think yo-yo is very, very close to cricket."

Big picture

The South African side might be second-string, but there was nothing second-rate about the cricket on show at Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday. In a pulsating encounter that took until the 240th ball of the match to finally reveal the winner, South Africa competed with Pakistan, and, for large chunks of the game, were the better side, only falling short due to two stunning individual performances by Mohammad Rizwan and Usman Qadir. It is bound to encourage the visitors that they may have more strength in depth than they have been given credit for, and they enter the second match with the series feeling very much alive.

Pakistan will have concerns despite the narrow win. It was, in truth, a fairly indifferent performance from the hosts, particularly for the batsmen and the fast bowlers. Rizwan side, no one exceeded 21 with the bat, while Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf combined to leak 118 runs in 11 overs. That isn't a template to winning T20I games, and Babar Azam's side will be well aware they will require a more rounded performances if they are to wrap up the series at the earliest opportunity.

South Africa will rue, once more, their failure to capitalise on important moments, as was the case in the Tests series. Having kept Pakistan on a leash for large periods and picked up wickets regularly, the visitors were unable to make the pressure tell on Rizwan, who rose up to the responsibility of being (virtually) last-man standing with flying colours. Junior Dala and Lutho Sipamla consistently missed their lines and leaked a costly 49 off 5 overs. With the bat, Janneman Malan played a sumptuous knock, but unlike Rizwan, could not convert his 29-ball 44 into a match-winning score, while Reeza Hendricks struggled to convert an anchoring half-century into an explosive innings once the asking rate changed the game's dynamic.

South Africa have never lost a T20I series in Asia, and need to win tomorrow to keep that record. They will have decisions to make in the bowling department, while hoping senior players like David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen come to the party in a way they did not on Thursday night. Pakistan, meanwhile, have more recognized options like Hasan Ali or Mohammad Hasnain to call up on for some of the quicks who had a torrid time in the first game. With the T20 World Cup less than a year away, neither side will mind getting a chance to provide experience to players who may be needed in India in October.

Form guide

Pakistan WWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LLLLL

In the spotlight

Khushdil Shah was called up to the Pakistan side based off his momentous National T20 Cup performances late last year, but so far, the left-handed power hitter has done little to justify his selection. One-hundred and fifteen runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 113 is very much not what was advertised when Pakistan decided to take a punt on him, and for most of those games, he has never really looked like getting into the zone that makes him arguably the most destructive striker on the domestic circuit. On Thursday, he fell for a run-a-ball 12 after one big hit, struggling to adjust to changes in pace deployed against him. T20I cricket is a step up from the domestic circuit Khushdil has become a bit of a legend on, but should his struggles here continue, he might earn a one-way ticket back to that level.

In four tightly-knit overs, Tabraiz Shamsi demonstrated what a devastating blow his absence was to South Africa's chances in the Test series. The Lahore surface was conducive to the spinners, and if Qadir got the headlines for four spellbinding overs, Shamsi wasn't far behind either. He landed the ball in the right areas frequently enough to keep the batsmen wary, conceding just two boundaries in four overs that cost just 20. Hussain Talat's dismissal, while controversial, came about simply due to Shamsi's mastery in flight, drawing his man forward to give Klassen the opportunity to catch him out of his crease. Pakistan will expect him to be just as threatening tomorrow.

Team news

Pakistan might be tempted to bring in Asif Ali after the middle order misfired, while Hasnain or Hasan could get a go, possibly for Afridi, who is due a rest.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt) 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 3 Haider Ali 4 Khushdil Shah 5 Asif Ali/Hussain Talat 6 Faheem Ashraf 7 Iftikhar Ahmed 8. Mohammad Nawaz 9 Hasan Ali/Shaheen Afridi 10 Haris Rauf 11 Usman Qadir

Dala and Jacques Snyman had difficult games, but South Africa turned in a stable enough performance not to require a massive overhaul.

South Africa (probable): 1 Janneman Malan 2 Reeza Hendricks 3 Jon-Jon Smuts/Jacques Snyman 4 David Miller 5 Heinrich Klaasen (capt &wk)) 6 Andile Phehlukwayo 7 Dwaine Pretorius 8 Bjorn Fortuin 9 Lutho Sipamla 10 Tabraiz Shamsi 11 Glenton Stuurman

Pitch and conditions

The wicket should once again take spin, but there was a sense there were more runs in it than the first T20I produced. A high-scoring game would not be much of a surprise.

Stats and trivia

• Rizwan's century in the first T20I made him just the second wicketkeeper-batsman to score international hundreds in all three formats. The other is former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.
• Babar Azam's duck was just the second time the Pakistan captain has failed to score in a T20I. The first time it happened came against Bangladesh last year, also at the Gaddafi Stadium.
• South Africa have now lost five consecutive T20Is, the first time this has ever happened.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Jeetan Patel has confirmed his desire to become England's spin-bowling coach on a full-time basis.

Patel has worked extensively with England over the past 18 months as a consultant coach, spending time with the squad during the tours of New Zealand and South Africa in the 2019-20 winter and in Sri Lanka and India over the past six weeks.

England tried to use him again during their Test series against Pakistan last summer, but were thwarted by a visa issue, since Patel was in the UK as a player (in his final season at Warwickshire) rather than as a coach. As a result, England's spinners were left to work with Warwickshire's seam-bowling coach Graeme Welch during that series, having been helped by Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson during West Indies' tour.

The ECB advertised for three vacant roles - pace-bowling coach, spin-bowling coach and batting coach - in December, with interviews being held in recent weeks after applications closed last month. Speaking in a press conference on Friday, Patel confirmed he had applied for the full-time role, and appears to be the favourite for the job.

"The ECB are still in the process of trying to hire three roles," Patel said. "They're still in the background for them. There's a lot going on so I'm not sure when that process will end, but right now it's on a consultancy basis and I love it. I've been very lucky to see this team win Test series, win games of cricket out of nowhere in some cases, to watch Joe Root score the runs he has, to see the young spinners come through and take five-fors, and also to see the group in some wonderful Test matches in South Africa through to Sri Lanka recently.

"I've really enjoyed my time here and I'd love to continue, but the reality is that I don't make those decisions. I'll put my best foot forward and make sure that I keep growing these guys as much as I can. I'd love it to be full-time."

While his international record was modest, Patel is a highly respected figure within English cricket as an authority on spin bowling. He took 473 first-class wickets for Warwickshire between 2009 and 2019 at an average of 26.11, making him county cricket's most prolific spinner, and said that he was keen to help young English spinners and make the domestic game more conducive to their development.

"Spin is really important around the world," he said. "I haven't officially been given any role yet but I'm always looking at how we can improve the game. I've spent a lot of time in England and my heart is there as well, so I'd love to see the spin game in England develop, whether that's through pitches, smartness of spinners themselves, captaincy, or the way we play spin."

As well as helping England's three main spinners - Moeen Ali, Dom Bess and Jack Leach - on this tour, Patel has been tasked with assisting their part-time options - Dan Lawrence and Joe Root - and managing the development of Mason Crane, Matt Parkinson and Amar Virdi, who have travelled as reserves along with the rest of the squad.

"It's been a lot of work," Patel said. "It's not often any team carries eight spinners on tour, but they've all been fantastic. Virds is definitely making big improvements, and he comes off the back of being able to spin the ball big, and we want to use that skill. These opportunities for him are fantastic.

"Parkinson for me has gone to the next level with his bowling. There were question marks around the pace he delivers the white ball and whether it would be effective at international level, and I think he's shown that [he can succeed] with a red ball. With Mason, we know that he can spin the ball and that he's an aggressive spinner. It's about helping him eliminate those bad deliveries that legspinners can bowl.

"For the reserve guys, it's about keeping them keen and keeping them coming back for more. There's a lot of work to do, and a lot of guys who want to face spin. They aren't robots, and they can't just rock up every day, so there are times when we have to rest them, [but] this tour has been fantastic so far."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

The Nick Kyrgios experience was in full effect against Dominic Thiem, from the underarm ace that successfully closed the second set to the around-the-back, between-the-legs miss that ceded the third and so much more -- to the delight of the Australian Open's last spectators for a while.

Kyrgios, a 25-year-old Australian who is part showman and part sideshow, had a grand ol' time while he was off to a perfect start, egging on a rowdy, partisan crowd and building a two-set lead in the third round Friday against No. 2 seed Thiem, the reigning US Open champion and last year's runner-up at Melbourne Park.

Not surprisingly, the talented and tempestuous Kyrgios was decidedly less amused after his level of play dipped, resulting in a tossed racket, his customary sort of back-and-forth with the chair umpire, a couple of warnings that resulted in a point penalty -- and a hard-to-swallow loss to Thiem by a score of 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

At Flushing Meadows in September, Thiem became the first man in 71 years to come back to win the final after dropping the first two sets, so this was nothing new for him. And in calm contrast to the ever-animated Kyrgios, Thiem reserved his displays of emotion to a simple shake of a raised right fist that marked his break to go up 4-3 in the fifth set and then the last point.

This was Kyrgios' second consecutive five-setter at 10,500-capacity John Cain Arena; in the previous round, he erased two match points en route to eliminating No. 29 Ugo Humbert.

This time, he was the one who blew a lead, which could have been even more significant had he not wasted a pair of break points at the start of the third set.

The stadium was about three-quarters full Friday; many in attendance were not mindful of being socially distant or wearing the masks that were to become mandatory at midnight for the state of Victoria. The state government has imposed a five-day lockdown because of an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

While competition at the tournament can continue, no spectators will be allowed as of Saturday.

"This was a good last match before the lockdown," Thiem said. "It's really sad to say.''

So with one last night out for the time being, folks were living their best lives.

They sang at changeovers, while Kyrgios sipped from a soda can. They jumped and screamed at Kyrgios' winners. They pounded the backs of seats. They cheered Thiem's mistakes. They booed close line calls that went against Kyrgios -- even though such decisions are determined by an automated system of cameras, not line judges, at this event.

The spectacle started during the warm-up, when Kyrgios -- wearing a beige sleeve on his left leg -- paused his practice serves to wave his racket and ask his fellow Aussies to get louder. They obliged, of course, eliciting a big grin from their guy.

When Kyrgios broke serve in the match's initial game, he hopped in delight and relished the cascading cheers, cupping his right hand on his ear to again implore for more -- and, again, they complied.

His first game featured an underarm serve and a between-the-legs half-volley, neither of which worked -- nor were they the last of those tricks he would try.

When Thiem pushed a forehand out to get broken and trail 5-4 in the second, Kyrgios yelled "Let's go, baby!'' as he strutted to the changeover. When the underarm ace ended the set, Kyrgios stretched his arms wide, as if to say, "Are you not entertained?''

Later, he questioned the loss of a point on a hindrance call, saying that his yell was no louder or more distracting to his opponent than other players' grunts.

Thiem was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park a year ago and then went on to win his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September. He will now face Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Also Friday, No. 8 seed Diego Schwartzman was eliminated in the third round by Aslan Karatsev, a qualifier from Russia ranked 114th and making his Grand Slam debut.

By far the biggest victory of the 27-year-old Karatsev's career came via a hard-to-believe margin of 50-5 in total winners and a lopsided score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

He is only the fifth man since 2000 to reach the round of 16 in his first appearance at a major championship. He is also the first qualifier to get that far at Melbourne Park since Milos Raonic a decade ago.

Karatsev had never beaten a player ranked higher than 48th. He now will meet another seeded player with a quarterfinal berth at stake -- No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Schwartzman was a semifinalist at last year's French Open and entered Friday with a 9-0 record against qualifiers in Grand Slam matches.

Earlier, Alexander Zverev needed just 1 hour, 43 minutes to defeat Adrian Mannarino at Rod Laver Arena and move on to the fourth round.

Zverev, the No. 6 seed who made the semifinals of last year's tournament, had 19 aces and 35 winners en route to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory. He is chasing his first career Grand Slam title.

Zverev had three wins over Mannarino in 2020, including a four-set victory in the third round of the US Open in September.

"I'm very happy," Zverev said after Friday's win. "I played him three times last year, and they were all long and difficult matches. Today, I decided that I'd hit the ball a bit harder."

Zverev, 23, next will face No. 23 seed Dusan Lajovic, who defeated Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.

In other men's matches, No. 18 seed Dimitrov advanced to the fourth round when Pablo Carreno Busta retired because of an injury in the second set. Dimitrov led 6-0, 1-0 when Carreno Busta withdrew.

Canadian men went 2-for-3 in their third-round matches. The third lost only because he played a fellow Canadian.

Auger-Aliassime beat No. 11 Denis Shapovalov in the all-Canadian match at Margaret Court Arena 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.

Shapovalov had won their two previous Grand Slam matches at the US Open in 2018 and 2019. "He's beaten me pretty badly a couple of times," Auger-Aliassime said.

Auger-Aliassime also reached the fourth round of last year's US Open. He plays Russian qualifier Karatsev next.

Canadian veteran Raonic advanced to the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the eighth time by beating Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. He will face Djokovic next.

The 14th-seeded Raonic's best performance at the Australian Open was reaching the semifinals in 2016.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Is there a budding sportswriter or broadcaster in your family? A youngster who loves sport so much that they just can’t stop telling everyone about it? Well, a competition has just launched which could be the perfect fit for them.

Young Sporting Wonders is the brainchild of broadcaster Rob Walker, who wanted to do something positive for children across Britain and Northern Ireland during these disrupted times, and is asking them to share their favourite sporting experiences.

It could be an amazing bike ride, scoring the winning goal for your school team, taking part in your first race on the track, going to the big match or just describing how sport makes you feel – if you are passionate about it, Young Sporting Wonders wants you to write, or talk, about it.

The best 100 entries will receive a £20 book token for an independent children’s bookshop called Octavia’s in Rob’s local area. However, he has also used his contacts within the sporting industry to offer the top 10 entries the chance to conduct an interview with a global sporting star – and the likes of former marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe and double Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee already signed up.

Young Sporting Wonders will then have the zoom interviews professionally edited and are aiming to have them aired on TV.

“It’s about passion, not perfect punctuation and amazing creative writing. It’s about young people communicating why sport – or a specific day in sport – is important to them,” explains Rob.

“It could be anything and it might not even be competitive. It might be someone writing in about a great bike ride they went on with their family and they love feeling the wind in their hair and watching the world go by.”

There is an audio option for those who would prefer to speak about their big moment rather than write about it. As some who has been a professional broadcaster since 1999, Rob certainly knows a thing or two about that.

“I’ve never lost sight of how lucky I am to have covered World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Olympics,” he says. “I’ve come into contact with really cool people like Paula and Alistair regularly and I have been really humbled with the speed at which both of them came back and said ‘I really like this idea, I want to help you’.”

Explaining the motivation behind Young Sporting Wonders, he adds: “If you’re lucky enough to make your living through sport – and you travel around and work with inspirational people, you almost at the moment have a kind of moral obligation to try and use your imagination, your field of work and your contacts to try and do something positive.”

He is hoping it also provides some inspiration which could open the door to future careers in sport.

“There are so many jobs attached to sport,” he adds. “Only the very, very highest percentage of people are able to make a living as a participant in world class sport, so if you fall a little short it doesn’t matter – there are so many types of jobs out there.

“When it comes to sportspeople at the top, they have come through difficult times as well as good times so they are fascinating, inspirational people to talk to. My message to young people who are finding it difficult at the moment is that everyone finds something in life difficult at some stage and the men and women that you watch on TV achieving great things have also been through difficult periods.

“Read up about these great characters. If you’re doing research on Paula, for example, within 12 weeks of collapsing at the side of the road in Athens, with the weight and expectation burdened on her shoulders, she recovered so quickly from that that she won an epic New York marathon and within 12 months of that had become a world champion.

“All these characters have come from difficult points to achieve great things and they are quite inspirational.”

The closing date for entries is March 15. For more information and to find out how to enter, visit Young Sporting Wonders