Britain takes centre stage

All eyes are on the third-round British contest

BBC Sport Online's Colin Banks provides a view from courtside on the fourth day at the Australian Open.

After all the surprises of the first three days at the Australian Open, events returned to some form of normality today.

In fact it was all rather dull, or maybe we've just been conditioned to over-excitement in the first few days.

Tim and Greg - The Drawcards!

As tension mounts ahead of Friday's big match, BBC Sport Online spoke to tournament director Paul MacNamee to get his thoughts on the new 'Battle of Britain'.

I'm not a betting man and, even if I was, I wouldn't know which way the match would go.

Pete Sampras on Henman v Rusedski

"There has been unbelievable interest at home and abroad for this match. It's definitely the showcase match of the round. We are especially pleased that the BBC are now televising the match back in the UK.

"Now that all our home boys are out, I hope the Australian public adopt Tim and Greg, as the British public always took to me and made me feel special when I played there.

"The draw has opened up nicely for one of them if they can take advantage of it."

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Talk of the locker room

Marat Safin admitted that the upcoming Henman v Rusedski match was the talk of the locker room as his fellow players realised how much pressure was on them back home in the UK.

Despite being pressured by BBC Sport Online to pick a winner, Pete Sampras refused to have a bet.

"I'm not a betting man and, even if I was, I wouldn't know which way the match would go. I will definitely be tuning in for the match. It's going to be just pure drama. There'll be some tension out there on court."

Safin: British contest is the talk of the locker room

Whatever happens, another record is going to be broken. Both players are currently riding on a winning streak with one tournament to their name each in 2002.

Between them they have won 14 of their last 15 matches, the only loss being Greg's loss to Tim in Adelaide - the longest winning streak Britain has ever had in the Open era.

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Shriver to marry former 007

One of the more bizarre twists away from the courts is the news that Pam Shriver is to marry a former James Bond.

Shriver, who won a total of 21 singles and 112 doubles titles during her playing career, has announced her engagement to George Lazenby.

Shriver is preparing to tackle life with Bond

Lazenby played 007 just once, in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. He later starred in the Kentucky Fried Movie and the Emmanuelle series.

Speaking at the Australian Open, the 39-year-old Shriver described her 62-year-old fiancé as "very special".

She said: "Here I am engaged to an Australian, somebody obviously very special in my life and I feel blessed.

"I have had lots of turns in my personal life recently and to fall back on my feet with an Australian feels really, really good."

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Australian women fly the flag

The departure of all the Australian men by the second round for the first time ever has been greeted with mass hysteria by the Australian media.

But the Australian women are defying the rankings with two players through to the third round.

Nicole Pratt had an impressive victory over the German Martina Muller to set up a clash with sixth seed Justine Henin, while wild-card entry Cindy Watson, ranked 194, came back from two match points down to defeat Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland.

Her prize is a clash with the fourth seed Kim Clijsters, who is treated as an honourary Australian as Lleyton Hewitt's girlfriend.

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Escude - can he do it all over again?

Nicolas Escude has a love/hate relationship with the Australian fans. Popular three years ago after his titanic run to the semi-finals here, but public enemy number one six weeks ago after he won the crucial fifth rubber in the Davis Cup final for France.

He'll be back at the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday to take on Pete Sampras while trying to re-create a slice of history.

Escude is slowly creeping his way through the draw

During his run to the semi-finals in 1998, he became the first player in the Open era to win three matches from two sets to love down at a Grand Slam.

He looks as if he is about to do it all over again after coming back from the same margin today to defeat Alex Calatrava 6-4 in the final set, saving two match-points in the process.

Pete Sampras is looking forward to the challenge ahead of him.

He said: "He has a lot of talent. I've practised with him a few times, so know his game, but I've never played him yet.

"He is someone that does everything very well, so this should be a good one. A high quality match."

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Unlucky 13 for Andy Roddick

Just when we thought that a day would finally pass without any injury scares, 13th seed Andy (A-Rod) Roddick called it a day after twisting his ankle once again.

"It's pretty crushing for me," he confessed. "It's happened a little too much, it's just really disheartening.

"I'm going to get it examined here and when I get home. It's now got to the point where I'm fed up with it. I want to find a long-term solution, not just fixing it temporarily. So, whatever it takes, I'm going to have to do it."

With so many high profile players already out, tournament organisers were looking to Roddick to help fill the void and rescue the event.

Roddick's departure now leaves the top half of the draw as barren as its opposite number.

The one person who could benefit is Pete Sampras, who would have been his likely quarter-final opponent.