Australian Open 2020: Day 6 Schedule, Preview and Order of Play
The seeds are falling in numbers as the Australian Open enters Day 6. Melbourne Park will see no more of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, or Stefanos Tsitsipas - at least, in the 2020 edition as more third-round action continues on Day 6 in the men's and women's singles events.
Second-seed Karolina Pliskova will be up against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the women's singles event at the Rod Laver Arena.
Pliskova, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2019, will need to be at her best against Pavlyuchenkova who was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open last year.
It was Naomi Osaka who ended the Czech's Grand Slam title ambitions with a win in the semifinals at Melbourne last year, but Pliskova got the better of the American at the Brisbane International, and has beaten Pavlyuchenkova on all six occasions that the two have met.
Romanian Simona Halep, a 2018 finalist at the Australian Open takes on Kazakh Yulia Putintseva while top-seed Rafael Nadal will be up against countryman Pablo Busta in the day session.
Fourth-seed Daniil Medvedev, faces Alexei Popyrin in the night session at the Rod Laver Arena while Angelique Kerber will need to get past Camila Giorgi to enter the last 16.
Dominic Thiem, seeded fifth, who managed to stave off a strong second-round challenge from Alex Bolt, will need to look sharp when he meets Taylor Fritz at the Margaret Court Arena on Saturday evening.
In the men's doubles, the Dutch-Croatian pair of Wesley Koolhof and Nicola Mektic take on the Aussie-South African duo of James Duckworth and Marc Polmans in a second-round tie.
In the men's legends doubles, Croatian Goran Ivanisevic and South African Wayne Ferreira will be in action against Mansour Bahrami of Iran and Fabrice Santoro of France.
Here are the major matches lined up for Day 6:
Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal vs Pablo Busta - Not before 07:00 (IST)
Dominic Thiem vs Taylor Fritz - Not before 08:30 (IST)
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexei Popyrin - Approx 13:30 (IST)
Alexander Zverev vs Fernando Verdasco - Approx 1330 IST
Women's Singles
Karolina Pliskova vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - Approx 05:30 (IST)
Angelique Kerber vs Camila Giorgi - Approx 05:30 (IST)
Simona Halep vs Yulia Putintseva - Not before 07:00 (IST)
Kiki Bertens vs Zarina DIyas - Approx 13:30 IST
Men's Doubles
Wesley Koolhof/Nicola Mektic vs James Duckworth and Marc Polmans - Approx 05:30 (IST)
Men's Legends Doubles
Goran Ivanisevic/Wayne Ferreira vs Mansour Bahrami/Fabrice Sontoro - Approx 05:30 (IST)