Andy Murray beats Joao Sousa but rushes to hospital to see stricken father-in-law Nigel Sears after on-court collapse

• Andy Murray defeated Joao Sousa in four sets before being informed his father-in-law Nigel Sears had collapsed
• Murray rushed to the hospital to visit Sears immediately after the 6–2, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 victory
• Second seed Murray will face Bernard Tomic or John Millman in the round of 16

Andy Murray beat Joao Sousa in four sets to reach the fourth round of the 2016 Australian Open despite the on-court collapse of his father-in-law Nigel Sears.

After defeating Sousa, Murray skipped post-match media obligations and has rushed to the hospital to visit Sears as the 58-year-old coach receives treatment.

Murray was playing Portugal’s Sousa on Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open while Ana Ivanovic took on Madison Keys on Rod Laver Arena in the night session on Saturday, with Nigel Sears in the stands. As well as serving as the coach of former world no. 1 Ivanovic, Sears is Murray’s father-in-law — the father of Murray’s long-time partner and now wife Kim, who is expecting her first child in a couple of weeks.

Ivanovic was leading 6–4, 1–0 — with Murray also up by a set — when the match on Rod Laver Arena was interrupted by the collapse of Sears, who may have hit himself when falling on the stairs causing bleeding.

Sears was attended by paramedics who gave him oxygen and was stretchered out of Rod Laver Arena while play was suspended between Ivanovic and Keys. After 50 minutes, the match resumed with both players having been given the choice whether to go on or postpone. Keys, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2015, came back to win 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 but did not do a post-match interview, while Ivanovic declined her media obligations in favour of visiting Sears in hospital.

Murray, meanwhile, was oblivious to this as he played on against Sousa, although Jamie Murray told reporters that Sears was ‘conscious, talking and sitting up’ on his way to hospital. After the end of the Ivanovic-Keys match, the Rod Laver Arena crowd were informed that Sears had asked for a TV so that he could monitor his charge from his hospital bed.

Murray came into the match with a perfect 6–0 record against Sousa, but although he took the first set he wasn’t playing his best and the Portuguese player unexpectedly took the second set to level up. The second seed, however, promptly cut his unforced errors and started doing a much better job of protecting his second serve, wrapping up a 6–2, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 victory in two hours and 28 minutes.

‘It was tricky,’ Murray said. ‘I didn’t feel great. You know, the match against [Sam] Groth, though I returned well, I didn’t get to hit that many groundstrokes. I didn’t feel I was in a great rhythm, wasn’t hitting the ball clean at the start.’

Murray will move on to face either Bernard Tomic or John Millman, both Australians, in the fourth round on Monday.

‘He was hitting the ball great, close to the lines, and making me do a lot of running,’ Murray said of Sousa.

‘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 one.’

Murray was informed immediately about Sears’s illness after the match. The world no. 2 did not do a post-match interview on the court and headed immediately to the hospital to visit Sears, accompanied by his mother Judy Murray.

It’s another off-court concern for the four-time Australian Open runner-up, who said before the tournament that he would leave and fly home should wife Kim go into labour during the event. But Murray can also be content with just one set dropped through the first three rounds as he joins Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in the round of 16.