MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — LOOKAHEAD TO SATURDAY
Daniil Medvedev will take on No. 57-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp in the third round as he continues his bid to become the first man in the Open era to win a second Grand Slam singles title at the next major tournament. Medvedev has been the quasi No. 1 at Melbourne Park since defending champion Novak Djokovic was deported on the eve of the Australian Open for not meeting the country's strict COVID-19 vaccination requirements. The second-seeded Medvedev lost the 2021 Australian final but avenged that by beating Djokovic for the U.S. Open championship. He's coming off a tough second-round win over local favorite Nick Kyrgios but will be expecting to have more crowd support this time in an afternoon match on Rod Laver Arena. In other matches, fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Benoit Paire and No. 5 Andrey Rublev will take on 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who was a runner-up in Australia in 2018. On the women's side, two-time major winner Simona Halep is against Danka Kovinic and Iga Swiatek takes on Daria Kasatkina.
SATURDAY FORECAST
Sunny, high of 33 Celsius (91 Fahrenheit).
FRIDAY'S WEATHER
