Australian Open 2020: Day 3 schedule, preview and order of play
Second-ranked Novak Djokovic will be in action on the third day of the Australian Open 2020 as he plays his second-round match. The defending champ will face Japan's wildcard entrant Tatsuma Ito, who had defeated India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the first round match. It would be the first encounter between the Serb and the Japanese player.
The women's singles defending champion Naomi Osaka would also be in action in Melbourne on Wednesday in the second round. The Japanese will face China's Saisai Zheng in their second career encounter. Caroline Wozniacki's match against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska would be second in line at the Margaret Court Arena in the morning session.
Grigor Dimitrov will face Tommy Paul in the last match of the morning session on the same court. In the first match of the evening session, Australia's Jordan Thompson will be up against Fabio Fognini. The 12th seeded Italian is in amazing form as he won his first round match in a five-setter. Fognini was two sets down before he went on to make an epic comeback and win the match 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Madison Keys will then take on Arantxa Rus in the final match of the day.
The day session at the Rod Laver Arena would begin with Petra Kvitova facing Paula Badosa, followed by the world number one and home favourite Ashleigh Barty up against Polona Hercog. Serena Williams and Roger Federer will play their respective second round matches in the evening session. Both Williams and Federer looked flawless in their first round matches and would most probably have easy second-round encounters as well.
After defeating the oldest female player in the women's singles draw, the youngest female player, Coco Gauff will play her second round match against Sorana Cirstea. 15-year old Gauff had defeated seven-time Grand Slam champion, Venus Williams, in what was a rematch of their first-round encounter at last year's Wimbledon Championship.
In other second-round matches, Stefanos Tsitsipas is up against Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, while Frenchman Benoit Paire will face Marin Cilic.
The doubles encounters will get underway on the third day of the tournament. Two Indian male tennis players will play their respective first round matches with their partners. Rohan Bopanna has paired up with Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan and has an extremely tough draw as they face 16-time Grand Slam winners, Bob and Mike Bryan. Bopanna and Uchiyama would have to be at their best of the form to go past the American pair.
In other men's doubles encounter, Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak will take on Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa in their first-round match. The fourth-seeded pair of Ivan Dodig and Filip Polášek will be up against wild card entrants Blake Ellis and Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
The women's doubles will see Chinese Taipei's pair of Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching take on Miyu Kato and Oksana Kalashnikova.
Here is the list of major matches of the Australian Open on Day 3:
Men's Singles
Tatsuma Ito vs Novak Djokovic - Approx 08:00 (IST)
Benoit Paire vs Marin Cilic - Approx 08:00 (IST)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Philipp Kohlschreiber - Approx 08:30 (IST)
Fabio Fognini vs Jordan Thompson - Approx 13:30 (IST)
Roger Federer vs Filip Krajinovic - Approx 14:45 (IST)
Women's Singles
Petra Kvitova vs Paula Badosa - 05:30 (IST)
Naomi Osaka vs Saisai Zheng - 05:30 (IST)
Caroline Wozniacki vs Dayana Yastremska - Approx 06:45 (IST)
Ashleigh Barty vs Polona Hercog - Approx 06:45 (IST)
Coco Gauff vs Sorana Cirstea - Approx 07:20 (IST)
Serena Williams vs Tamara Zidansek - Approx 13:30 (IST)
Men's Doubles
Kevin Krawietz / Andreas Mies vs Alexander Bublik / Mikhail Kukushkin - Approx 06:45 (IST)
Ivan Dodig / Filip Polášek vs Blake Ellis / Alexei Popyrin - Approx 08:00 (IST)
Divij Sharan / Artem Sitak vs Pablo Carreno Busta / Joao Sousa - Approx 09:20 (IST)
Rohan Bopanna / Yasutaka Uchiyama vs Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan - Approx 10:40 (IST)
Women's Doubles
Latisha Chan / Chan Hao-ching vs Miyu Kato / Oksana Kalashnikova - 05:30 (IST)
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