Local hopes have been dissolved on a rainy Wednesday afternoon at Melbourne Park, as weather suspensions wreak havoc on the Australian Open schedule.

Play stopped on all but the three indoor courts for much of the afternoon, leaving dry fans inside John Cain Arena to watch a valiant Ajla Tomljanović eliminated in the second round for the sixth time. Russian 12th seed Diana Shnaider edged the important points and held off a late comeback to win 6-4, 7-5 in an hour and a half.

The Australian, who has struggled with a knee injury in the past 12 months, was disappointed to lose but took positives from the defeat. “ I moved probably the best that I’ve moved a long time, it just gives me a lot of confidence moving forward,” she said. “But I think the biggest difference today was that she had not many dips in the hour and a half that we played and and I had quite a few.”

Tomljanović had battled through a set and a half but looked headed for a defeat when her opponent served for the match at 5-3. The Australian broke back and had the momentum until a double fault three games later set up a match point for the young Russian, who took advantage with another powerful passing shot.

The 20-year-old said she feels like she has to improve in the tightest moments. “Sometimes it’s tough, sometimes emotions take over your brain, but I’m trying to work on that too,” Shnaider said.

In the men’s draw, James Duckworth trailed by two sets and a break when the rain came through in the afternoon, just as his opponent Roberto Carballés Baena was serving for the match. After a suspension lasting hours, the pair finally returned at 8pm to finish the tie. The tense final game lasted two minutes but went on serve, securing the Spanish world No 57 a straight-sets victory.

Australia is left with just a single men’s seed at Melbourne Park after Jordan Thompson limped out of the tournament, losing his second round clash on John Cain Arena to world No 33 Nuno Borges.

The Portuguese was impressive in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win under cloudy skies, but his victory was aided by a foot injury to Thompson which increasingly hampered him during the third set. By the end, the Sydneysider could barely walk, but said he was outplayed from the start.

“I was coming back, but I had a chance there,” he said, of two break points midway through the third set when pain appeared to worsen. “I barely won a point after the foot. I was getting outplayed before that anyway, but it’s disappointing because I did have a chance there.”

Thompson said that although he won his first round match, the injury was never out of his mind. The 30-year-old has been managing it with injections, but said he now must rest it until it’s fully healed. “That’s the most disappointing part,” he said. “If he had have beaten me … and I walk away with a healthy body, I’d be happier.”

Afterwards Borges expressed sympathy for the 27th seed, who is close to a career-high ranking but had to withdraw from lead-up tournaments in Brisbane and Adelaide due to the issue. “Jordan was playing amazing, I’m really sorry for finishing it this way, and I’m sure he was struggling throughout the match,” Borges said.

Despite the circumstances, the top-ranked Portuguese player was clearly happy with the result and shared his love for Melbourne. The 27-year-old made the fourth round in 2024, propelling him into a season that saw him reach the same stage at the US Open.

“It is the ‘happy slam’ for me, for sure,” Borges said. “It was for sure a breakthrough for me to play that well here [last year], and play best-of-five sets and learning how to deal with all this.”

Borges had to be told by the on-court interviewer he would be meeting Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. The Portuguese said he didn’t have high expectations. “I’ll try to keep the pressure on his side, and hopefully I can bring out the best tennis to try to mess with them a little bit,” he said.

After three Australian seeds began the men’s singles at a grand slam for the first time since 2000, by Wednesday afternoon just one – Alex de Minaur – was remaining.

A sick and injured 25th seed Alexei Popyrin was eliminated on Tuesday night in four sets to Frenchman Corentin Moutet. Popyrin said afterwards he had injury niggles all week, and an illness forced him to the doctor for medical relief prior to the match.

Four more Australians are due to complete their singles matches on Wednesday, headlined by the evening’s clash on John Cain Arena between Thanasi Kokkinakis and British 15th seed Jack Draper.