Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are all in action in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday, while Coco Gauff faces defending champion Naomi Osaka.
Searching for her eighth title in Melbourne, Williams is still to drop a set after the first two rounds. The 38-year-old defeated Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 6-3 in 78 minutes on Wednesday, but she was far from pleased with her performance.
"I made so many errors in a row and had to battle through my own internal problems," she said in her post-match press conference.
"I knew I had to play better and couldn't keep making unforced errors like that, otherwise it was going to be a long evening for me."
Williams will face China's Wang Qiang, the No. 27 seed, in Friday's second match of the morning session at the Rod Laver Arena.
When the duo met at the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last year, it took Williams only 44 minutes to progress to the next round.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff will be hoping to continue her meteoric rise when she takes on Naomi Osaka in the first match of the evening session at the Rod Laver Arena.
The 15-year-old rallied from a set and three games down to defeat Romania's Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the second round on Wednesday. Osaka, meanwhile, defeated China's Saisai Zheng 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes.
The defending champion and Gauff met in the third round of the U.S. Open last year, with Osaka winning 6-3, 6-0.
Djokovic and Federer will also be out on Melbourne Park's main court, with the Serb's match against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka scheduled after Williams' third round encounter.
The defending champion thrashed Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in 95 minutes, firing down 16 aces in the process.
"My serve was working extremely well in the first and second round. That's something I worked on in the off-season," he said. "One of the priorities of the training sessions is trying to get that advantage of winning a lot of easy points on the first serve. It has been paying off so far."
Federer, meanwhile, will be on court after the conclusion of the match between Gauff and Osaka and will face Australia's John Millman, the world No. 47.
The Swiss has reached the round of 32 in each of his previous 20 appearances at Melbourne Park and is yet to drop a set this year.
Federer defeated world No. 41 41 Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in the second round but faces a tricky opponent in Millman.
The Australian dispatched Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, the No. 31 seed, in straight sets and defeated Federer at the U.S. Open two years ago.
Here's everything you need to know to keep up with the third-round action.
Third round start time
The third round of the Australian Open gets underway at 11 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
However, because of the 16-hour difference between Melbourne and the east coast of the U.S., that means matches get underway at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday evening.
World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty kicks off proceedings when she takes on Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, the world No. 26, at the Rod Laver Arena in the day's first match.
TV channel
The Australian Open is broadcast exclusively across ESPN channels, with ESPN2 carrying the bulk of the tournament. Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday and runs until 7 a.m. on Friday.
A replay will be available on ESPN2 between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday.
Live stream
Fans can watch the action online via the WatchESPN app and on ESPN.com.
Third round full schedule
Aside from Federer and Djokovic, a number of seeded players are in action on Friday.
No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina plays No. 24 Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, while fellow Argentinian Guido Pella, the No. 22 seed, faces No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open winner, takes on No. 9 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and world No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas faces No. 32 seed Milos Raonic.
Among the women, two-time Grand Slam winner Karolina Pliskova, the world No. 8, plays Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No. 25 seed.
Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki takes on Tunisia's Ons Jabeur.
Aside from Williams and Gauff, U.S. fans will be focusing on No. 10 seed Madison Keys, who plays Greece's Maria Sakkari, the No. 22 seed, and No. 14 seed Sofia Kenin who takes on China's Shuai Zhang.
No. 18 seed Alison Riske plays Germany's Julia Goerges, while Tennys Sandgren takes on Sam Querrey in an all-American clash.
Odds
According to Oddschecker, Novak Djokovic is a 21/20 favorite to defend his title, followed by Rafael Nadal at 11/2 and Daniil Medvedev and Roger Federer both at 8/1.
In the women's tournament, Serena Williams is a 3/1 favorite, followed by Naomi Osaka at 6/1 and Ashleigh Barty at 7/1.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he ... Read more
