Chaos reigns at the Australian Open after a day of delays which has forced a large number of Round 1 matches to be pushed back a day.
Nine matches were cancelled and another 11 were postponed mid-match, and are set to be made up on Wednesday, along with the existing schedule which sees big tests for Aussies Rinky Hijikata, John Millman and Jason Kubler against top-20 stars.
Follow Day 3 of the Australian Open in our live blog below, with a full order of play and updates at the bottom of the article!
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‘TANKING’ CALLS SURROUND FORMER WORLD NO.9
Thanasi Kokkinakis will attempt to claim the five points needed for a round one victory on Wednesday amid a “tanking” claims surrounding his opponent.
Kokkinakis was up two sets, 4-2 and 15-40 against Italian Fabio Fognini when play was suspended.
Earlier Fognini’s lackluster play raised plenty of eyebrows.
Tennis commentator Adam Peacock was left stunned by an errant shot from the former world No.9 in the third set.
“I don’t know how to explain that,” he said on Nine’s coverage. “Spoke for itself.”
Co-commentator Roger Rasheed agreed.
“Shots like that have come off the Italian’s racquet again and again.”
It prompted criticism from tennis reporters who claimed Fognini was close to tanking.
Kokkinakis will resume his match with Kokkinakis on Kia Arena today.
SO… WHAT’S THE SCHEDULE?
Many Australian Open stars went to bed last night knowing they’d be playing on Wednesday – but not knowing when.
Delays due to intense heat and heavy rain forced nine first-round matches to be pushed back a day, while another 11 were postponed after being started on Tuesday.
It wasn’t until nearly 12:30am AEDT that organisers released the Day 3 Order of Play.
The cancelled first-round matches were Daria Kasatkina v Varvara Gracheva, Beatriz Haddad Maia v Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Lucrezia Stefanini v Tatjana Maria, Sloane Stephens v Anastasia Potapova, Irina-Camelia Begu v Elizabeth Mandlik, Lucia Bronzetti v Laura Siegemund, Richard Gasquet v Ugo Humbert (stopped at 2-1 Humbert in the first set), Mayar Sherif v Magda Linette and Denis Kudla v Roman Safiullin.
All cancelled matches, with the exception of Sherif-Linette, were paired with the match that will decide the winner’s second-round opponent in an effort to ensure no player has an extra day’s break.
This could not be done for Sherif-Linette because their potential second round opponent had already been decided earlier in the day.
But then came the decision to end play on outside courts just before midnight after rain hit Melbourne again. That saw 11 matches suspended to be resumed on Wednesday.
Suspended matches from late Tuesday night
Kia Arena – Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-1 6-2 4-2, Fognini serving 15-40
1573 Arena – Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Brandon Holt (USA) 4-6 6-1 2-4, Holt serving
Court 3 – John Isner (USA) v Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 7-6(5) 3-4, Isner serving 30-0
Court 5 – Joao Sousa (POR) v [24] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 3-6 1-0, Bautista Agut serving
Court 6 – Alison Riske-Amritraj (USA) v Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 4-1, Vondrousova serving 30-15
Court 7 – Claire Liu (USA) v Madison Brengle (USA) 4-2, Liu serving 0-15
Court 12 – Maxime Cressy (USA) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 7-6(2) 7-5 3-6 2-2, Cressy serving
Court 13 – Michael Mmoh (USA) v Laurent Lokoli (FRA) 4-6 6-2 7-6(7) 4-6 3-1, Lokoli serving 30-30
Court 15 – Donna Vekic (CRO) v Oksana Selekhmeteva (RUS) 6-2 2-6 6-6 [5-1 in match tiebreak], Vekic serving
Court 17 – Lauren Davis (USA) v Danka Kovinic (MNE) 1-6 7-5 4-1, Kovinic serving 15-0
Aussie wildcard stuns Kanepi in three | 00:51
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023
Day 3 Order Of Play (All courts from 11am)
Rod Laver Arena
[1] Iga Swiatek (POL) v Camila Osorio (COL)
[3] Jessica Pegula (USA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Not before 2pm
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Mackenzie McDonald (USA)
Night session from 7pm
Emma Raducanu (GBR) v [7] Coco Gauff (USA)
[3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) v Rinky Hijikata (AUS)
Show Court 1
Diana Shnaider (RUS) v [6] Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Alex Molcan (SVK) v [6] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
[10] Madison Keys (USA) v Xinyu Wang (CHN)
Night session from 7pm
John Millman (AUS) v [7] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v [13] Danielle Collins (USA)
John Cain Arena
Tomas Matin Etcheverry (ARG) v [15] Jannik Sinner (ITA)
Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) v [15] Petra Kvitova (CZE)
Juncheng Shang (CHN) v [16] Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Not before 5pm
[18] Karen Khachanov (RUS) v Jason Kubler (AUS)
[22] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) v Kaja Juvan (SLO)
Aussies in action
Kia Arena, not before 12:30pm
Round 1 match to be completed: Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-1 6-2 4-2, Fognini serving 15-40
Kia Arena, Match 4
Olivia Gadecki (AUS) v Marta Kostyuk (UKR)
1573 Arena, not before 12:30pm
Round 1 match to be completed: Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Brandon Holt (USA) 4-6 6-1 2-4, Holt serving
Follow updates from the Australian Open in our live blog below!
