Australian Open live updates: Osaka, Inglis, Sinner, Djokovic, Shelton and Keys to feature as the mercury soars

Australian tennis superfan James Bray says he was kicked out of Melbourne Park after calling out during Alex de Minaur’s match on Friday night.

In a series of Instagram stories, Bray said security approached him and told him to leave the Australian Open grounds.

“Yeah so kicked out of the Australian Open, bit of a weird feeling, paid $700 for a ticket to the Demon, I felt like everything was going well. I was cheering him, probably, not disrespectful at all, I wasn’t like cheering in between double faults or during serves.… I was just cheering on him, like I would genuinely cheer on any Australian on any court,” Bray posted on Instagram.

Bray said security came up to him and told him to leave.

“I feel like I wasn’t doing anything bad… I wasn’t being disrespectful,” he continued.

Bray made headlines earlier for cheering on British star Emma Raducanu earlier in the week.

Australian Open defending champion has taken th first set against Karolína Plíšková in sweltering conditions on Rod Laver Arena today.

Keys took the first set 6-3 and will be hoping make this a quick one in order to escape the heat.

If 18-year-old Tereza Valentova wins her match against Elena Rybakina tonight, or 19-year-old Nikola Bartunkova wins her match against Elise Mertens today, that will be the most teenagers through to the Australian Open round of 16 since 2009.

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva is already through after a straight sets victory on Rod Laver Arena last night, along with Canadian Victoria Mboko and American Iva Jovic.

The last time there were that many teenagers in the final 16 was in 2009 when Victoria Azarenka, Alize Cornet, Dominika Cibulkova and Alisa Kleybanova all qualified.

If all five teenagers got through this tournament, that would match the five teenagers that progressed to the fourth round in 2007 - Maria Sharapova, Anna Chakvetadze, Shahar Pe’er, Lucie Safarova and Nicole Vaidisova.

Hardcore tennis fans have not been deterred by today’s scorching forecast, filing into the Melbourne Park precinct.

They are armed with hats, sunglasses and slinging water bottles by their sides. Many are already seeking out shade, or walking through water misters to keep cool.

The outdoor temperature is currently 29.3 and is to climb throughout the afternoon – 34 degrees by noon and hitting 40 degrees soon after 4pm.

Junior matches are underway on outdoor courts, having started at 10am, and Open draw singles matches are starting now - an hour earlier - on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, John Cain Arena and Kia Arena.

Open organisers kept the stadium roofs closed up until the last minute, pulling them back when the players walked out onto the courts.

This is tough for fans with seats on the western sides of stadiums - for now - as the sun is belting down.

If conditions become unsafe for players, according to the Open’s heat stress scale, play will be suspended on outside courts and stadium roofs will be closed.

Play can resume when it is deemed safe - almost straight away in the air-conditioned arenas.

Four factors are considered – air temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed – to generate a reading between one and five. It is not determined by temperature alone. Once the scale hits five, play is stopped.

That could happen at any moment once the temperature soars into the higher 30s.

We have our first matches under way at Melbourne Park, as event organisers attempt to get through the day session before the mercury hits unbearable levels.

Rod Laver and Margaret Court start times have been brought forward an hour, with defending women’s champion Madison Keys taking to centre court to play Karolina Pliskova in her third round match.

Over on MCA, Jessica Pegula is playing world No. 101 Oksana Selekhmeteva. Start times for John Cain Arena and KIA Arena were also brought forward by half an hour.

There, we have Czechia’s Tomas Machac against Lorenzo Musetti, while Karen Khachanov has just taken to the court against Luciano Darderi.

Canadian Leylah Fernandez has explained the genesis of her unlikely mixed doubles pairing with Aussie part-timer Nick Kyrgios.

The pair won their first round clash on Friday and are drawn to step out again on Sunday.

“It was (in) Brisbane,” Fernandez, 23, says of the moment in question.

“I remember the night before, my dad and I were talking, and we said, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if Nick and I, we played doubles together’?”

“We were just talking like that, as jokingly a little bit. And I feel like my dad took the initiative and went up to Nick ...brought up the question. Nick was nice enough to say, yes.

“I immediately sent the message, and it just kind of started off that way, but it was great. Great that it worked out.“

Fernandez is ranked 23 in the world for singles but was bundled out of the first round during this year’s Australian Open in straight sets by Indonesian ace Janice Tjen.

The highlight of her career to date has been making the US Open final in 2021, losing to Emma Raducanu.

Kyrgios, who turns 31 in April, has not played a grand slam singles event since bowing out in last year’s Australian Open first round.

Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka looked like she was in trouble yesterday during her third round match against Anastasia Potapova.

The Austrian pushed Sabalenka to the maximum and forced the first and second set to a tiebreak, but Sabalenka came through to claim a straight sets victory and book herself a spot in the fourth round where she will play Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko.

But, did Sabalenka really have anything to be worried about?

The fact is, she is equal with Novak Djokovic for the most consecutive tiebreaks won at a grand slam with 19.

The only difference is, Djokovic’s 19 were from Wimbledon 2005 to Wimbledon 2007, while Sabalenka’s is ongoing.

She’s sitting on 19 straight tiebreak wins which started back at Roland Garros in 2019.

Aussie Alex de Minaur has dodged the heat bullet today by luck of scheduling. He is not due to step out again until tomorrow in a round-of-16 clash with Alexander Bublik when the temperatures drop to 24 degrees.

But the Demon, who had a straight sets victory 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 over American Frances Tiafoe on Friday night, did have some home-grown advice for the players facing today’s scorcher.

“I think I would handle it better than a lot of other opponents,” de Minaur said in his post-match press conference.

“I wouldn’t say I would have enjoyed it out there because I’m sure no one would enjoy it when it’s so hot. But it all comes down to the prep, right?

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“You’ve got to make sure that you hydrate, you eat well, you recover well, make sure everything prior to the match, and as the match is going on, ice towels from the very first game.

“Make sure you stay in the shade as much as you can, and, yeah, get ready for feeling uncomfortable. But sometimes that’s part of tennis and is one of the factors that play into this beautiful game that we have.

“We will see tomorrow who handles it better.”

Matches are starting an hour earlier, from 10.30am, ahead of the mercury hitting 40 degrees by 5pm.

If conditions reach a certain tipping point, using the Australian Open’s heat stress scale, tournament referee Wayne McKewen can order play to be suspended on outdoor courts and the roofs on the major stadiums to be closed.

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