One player is set to be given an advantage thanks to the Australian Open’s schedule changes, made in attempt to avoid delays. Follow live below!
In the very surprising top half of the women’s draw, unseeded pair Linda Noskova and Dayana Yastremska are facing off in one quarter-final to begin Wednesday’s play at 12pm AEDT.
But the other quarter-final in their half, 12th seed Qinwen Zheng against unseeded Anna Kalinskaya, won’t be played until the night session.
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This is because the tournament now only schedules two matches in the day session, down from three, and has to play two men’s and two women’s quarter-finals on centre court on one day.
Two men’s matches cannot be played in the night session, since they could both run five sets, and organisers would not schedule both men’s matches in the day session because the TV broadcaster would be left fuming over the likely lower ratings.
But it leaves the Noskova-Yastremska winner likely to have an extra six to eight hours of recovery on the Kalinskaya-Zheng winner – which actually matters because their semi-final will be played tomorrow (Thursday).
In previous years both women’s quarter-finals in the same half of the draw were played in the same session to minimise the recovery gap.
On the men’s side – with their semi-final to be played on Friday – Daniil Medvedev faces Hubert Hurkacz, before in the second match of the night session, Carlos Alcaraz battles Alex Zverev.
Zverev has been accused by multiple ex-partners of domestic abuse and is facing trial in Germany this May.
DAY 11 ORDER OF PLAY (Quarter-finals – all times AEDT)
Rod Laver Arena
Not before 12pm: Linda Noskova (CZE) vs Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
Not before 1:30pm: No.9 Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs No.3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
From 7:15pm: Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) vs No.12 Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
Followed by: No.6 Alexander Zverev (GER) vs No.2 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)