Australian Open: Order of Play with Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in action
Day 7 at the 2026 Australian Open forced to start early with temperatures set to soar as high as 40 degrees in Melbourne; Cooling breaks and suspension of play at disposal of officials if certain thresholds are broken on heat stress scale
Friday 23 January 2026 11:56, UK
Play at the Australian Open will begin earlier than scheduled on Saturday because of expected extreme heat.
Third-round matches at Melbourne Park will start at 10.30am local time on the main show courts, an hour earlier than normal, with action on the outside courts beginning at 10am.
Temperatures are forecast to soar through the day and could hit 40 degrees by around 5pm.
The tournament adopted the heat stress scale in 2019, which aims to ensure conditions are safe for players to compete in.
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It takes into account air temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed, with various measures implemented if the scale passes certain thresholds, including cooling breaks between sets if it hits a mark of four and suspension of play at five.
Should the scale reach five, matches on outside courts would cease until conditions improve, while, on the three show courts with roofs, play would continue indoors.
Two-time defending men's champion Jannik Sinner is among those due to play in the day session, with Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek scheduled at night. All but three of the main draw singles matches are on covered courts.
Tournament director Craig Tiley said: "We expect pleasant conditions tomorrow morning, in the mid-20s, and will start play earlier and take advantage of the more temperate conditions."
Order of Play (all times UK and Ireland)
Rod Laver Arena
11:30pm
Karolina Pliskova [CZE] vs. Madison Keys [USA] [9]
Not before 1am
Eliot Spizzirri [USA] vs. Jannik Sinner [ITA] [2]
8am
Botic van de Zandschulp [NED] vs. Novak Djokovic [SRB] [4]
Following
Naomi Osaka [JPN] [16] vs. Maddison Inglis [AUS]
Margaret Court Arena
11:30pm
Jessica Pegula [USA] [6] vs. Oksana Selekhmeteva [RUS]
Not before 1am
Peyton Stearns [USA] vs. Amanda Anisimova [USA] [4]
Not before 3:30am
Ben Shelton [USA] [8] vs. Valentin Vacherot [MON] [30]
8am
Anna Kalinskaya [RUS] [31] vs. Iga Swiatek [POL] [2]
Following
Marin Cilic [CRO] vs. Casper Ruud [NOR] [12]
John Cain Arena
11:30pm
Lorenzo Musetti [ITA] [5] vs. Tomas Machac [CZE]
Not before 1am
Elise Mertens [BEL] [21] vs. Nikola Bartunkova [CZE]
6am
Stan Wawrinka [SUI] vs. Taylor Fritz [USA] [9]
Following
Elena Rybakina [KAZ] [5] vs. Tereza Valentova [CZE]
KIA Arena
11:30pm
Karen Khachanov [RUS] [15] vs. Luciano Darderi [ITA] [22]
Not before 1am
Linda Noskova [CZE] [13] vs. Wang Xinyu [CHN]
TBA Match TBA
Not before 7am
Jakub Mensik [CZE] [16] vs. Ethan Quinn [USA]
1573 Arena
11:30pm
Alexander Erler [AUT] / Robert Galloway [USA] vs. Harri Heliovaara [FIN] / Henry Patten [GBR] [2]
Following
Corentin Moutet [FRA] / Luca Sanchez [FRA] vs. Marcel Granollers [ESP] / Horacio Zeballos [ARG] [3]
Following
Asia Muhammad [USA] / Erin Routliffe [NZL] [6] vs. Shuko Aoyama [JPN] / Magda Linette [POL]
Following
Anna Blinkova [RUS] / Kamilla Rakhimova [RUS] vs. Hailey Baptiste [USA] / Peyton Stearns [USA]
Following
Erin Routliffe [NZL] / Andre Goransson [SWE] vs. Kristina Mladenovic [FRA] / Manuel Guinard [FRA]
ANZ Arena
11:30pm
Hanyu Guo [CHN] / Kristina Mladenovic [FRA] [16] vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [RUS] / Clara Tauson [DEN]
Following
Kimberly Birrell [AUS] / Talia Gibson [AUS] vs. Sara Errani [ITA] / Jasmine Paolini [ITA] [2]
Following
Jason Kubler [AUS] / Marc Polmans [AUS] vs. Jakub Paul [SUI] / Marcus Willis [GBR]
Following
Olivia Nicholls [GBR] / Henry Patten [GBR] [7] vs. Anna Danilina [KAZ] / JJ Tracy [USA]
Following
Talia Gibson [AUS] / Matthew Ebden [AUS] vs. Aleksandra Krunic [SRB] / Mate Pavic [CRO] [5]
Court 5
11pm
Tahlia Kokkinis [AUS] [15] vs. Qu Yihan [CHN]
Following
Tori Russell [AUS] vs. Jahnie van Zyl [RSA]
Taiki Takizawa [JPN] vs. Tanishk Konduri [USA]
Keaton Hance [USA] [4] vs. Ethan Domingo [USA]
Carel Aubriel Ngounoue [USA] vs. Kaan Isik Kosaner [TUR]
Court 6
11pm
Cooper Kose [USA] vs. Tito Chavez [USA] [14]
Not before 1am
Tereza Mihalikova [SVK] / Olivia Nicholls [GBR] [12] vs. Storm Hunter [AUS] / Maya Joint [AUS]
Following
Vasil Kirkov [USA] / Bart Stevens [NED] vs. Austin Krajicek [USA] / Nikola Mektic [CRO] [16]
Following
Irina Khromacheva [RUS] / Christian Harrison [USA] vs. Su‑Wei Hsieh [TPE] / Jan Zielinski [POL]
Following
Gabriela Dabrowski [CAN] / Luke Johnson [GBR] vs. Maya Joint [AUS] / Matthew Romios [AUS]
Court 7
11pm
John Bothma [RSA] vs. Raphael Savelli [BRA]
Not before 1am
Marcelo Arevalo [ESA] / Mate Pavic [CRO] [4] vs. N. Sriram Balaji [IND] / Neil Oberleitner [AUT]
Following
Santiago Gonzalez [MEX] / David Pel [NED] vs. Yuki Bhambri [IND] / Andre Goransson [SWE] [10]
Following
Iva Jovic [USA] / Victoria Mboko [CAN] vs. Elise Mertens [BEL] / Shuai Zhang [CHN] [4]
Court 8
11pm
Kirill Filaretov [RUS] vs. Ryo Tabata [JPN] [3]
Following
Alena Kovackova [CZE] [1] vs. Chukwumelije Clarke [GBR]
Victoria Luiza Barros [BRA] [4] vs. Jizelle Sibai [AUS]
Mark Ceban [GBR] vs. Connor Doig [AUS]
Polina Berezina [ESP] vs. Denisa Zoldakova [SVK]
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