Australian Open: Djokovic under the lights again on Day 6
The third round gets underway Friday at the Australian Open with Novak Djokovic back in action in his bid for a record-extending 25th major title. Stay up-to-date with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to watch the year's first Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the schedule is, what the betting odds are, and more:
WHO IS PLAYING ON DAY 5?
Novak Djokovic has a third straight night-time assignment at Melbourne Park, where he's on a 30-match winning streak. Djokovic is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title and is coming off a tense four-set win over Alexei Popyrin in the previous round that included an angry exchange with a specator. He takes on Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who who has ousted veterans Andy Murray and Gael Monfils this week. Djokovic kicks off the night session on Rod Laver Arena. U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff plays fellow American Alycia Parks in the day session on Margaret Court Arena, after Jannik Sinner's match against Sebastian Baez.
BETTING FAVORITES
FanDuel Sportsbook has Novak Djokovic as a big favorite for his third-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry despite his struggles in the first two matches. Djokovic is a minus-2,000 chance. Etcheverry is listed at plus-1,260. No. 4-seeded Coco Gauff is also minus-2000 for her match against Alycia Parks. A plus figure represents longer odds, in which case you'll win more for your wager, while a minus figure means you're betting on a more likely outcome — as deemed by FanDuel.
THE SINGLES SCHEDULE
Melbourne's time zone is 16 hours ahead of the East Coast of the United States, so when Day 6 begins at 11 a.m. local time on Friday in Australia, it'll be 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Here is the remaining singles schedule in Australia:
—Friday-Saturday: Third Round (Women and Men)
—Jan. 21-22: Fourth Round (Women and Men)
—Jan. 23-24: Quarterfinals (Women and Men)
—Jan. 25: Women's Semifinals
—Jan. 26: Men's Semifinals
—Jan. 27: Women's Final
—Jan. 28: Men's Final
HOW TO WATCH THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN ON TV
—In the U.S.: ESPN
—Other countries are listed here.
KEY RESULTS IN WEDNESDAY'S DAY SESSION
Women's singles: No. 1 Iga Swiatek beat Danielle Collins 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Clara Burel beat No. 5 Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-2; No. 12 Qinwen Zheng beat Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-3; Sloane Stephens beat No. 14 Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Men's singles: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (3); No. 6 Alexander Zverev beat Lukas Klein 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7); No. 11 Casper Ruud beat Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7); No. 14 Tommy Paul beat Jack Draper 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5; No. 19 Cam Norrie beat Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
GET CAUGHT UP
What to read about the Australian Open:
— Basic facts and figures about the tournament
— Can too many tennis ball changes cause injury?
— A courtside bar is dividing opinion
— Players complain about a rule change for spectators
— 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva beats 3-time major finalist Ons Jabeur
— 2022 Australian Open runnerup Danielle Collins announces a 2024 retirement
— The pressure is off Coco Gauff
— A look at the draw in Melbourne
— Men to watch
— Women to watch
A TENNIS QUIZ
Try your hand at the AP's Australian Open quiz.
STATS TO KNOW
200 – Carlos Alcaraz's match with Lorenzo Sonego was his 200th as a professional, and he's still only 20.
13 — Iga Swiatek's win over Danielle Collins at the Australian Open was her 13th in 14 meetings with American players at Grand Slams. Her only loss was against Collins in the semifinals here in 2022.
WORDS TO KNOW
"I have other things that I'd kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis and would like to have the time to be able to do that. Obviously having kids is a big priority for me." Collins, announcing that this will be her last season on tour.
"You can actually relax a little bit more because you know that, OK, probably I'm going to lose, so I don't care anymore. Then it's easier. Sometimes it works like that – Swiatek explains her mindset when she trailed 4-1 in the deciding set against Collins.