Organisers will scramble to cram 22 cancelled or postponed first-round singles matches into day three of the Australian Open after extreme heat delays were compounded by night-time downpours at Melbourne Park.
Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell and Aleksandar Vukic are among the players who will have to finish their respective matches on Wednesday after rain saw play suspended late on Tuesday night.
As of Tuesday night, 10 matches had been cancelled and another 12 postponed at varying stages.
They will all need to be recommenced or started on Wednesday, when the other side of the draw will start the second round.
Kokkinakis was only five points away from a surprisingly easy straight-sets win over Fabio Fognini, leading 6-1 6-2 4-2 with the Italian serving at 15-40.
Vukic was part way through his clash with American qualifier Brandon Holt, trailing 6-4 1-6 4-2.
Purcell was about to enter a potentially decisive fourth-set tiebreak with Emil Ruusuvuori, down 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-6.
The extreme heat policy was enacted for the best part of three hours on a scorching day two of the Australian Open, with action suspended on the outside courts at Melbourne Park on a day when the temperature peaked at 37C.
Action continued throughout the break with the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena and Margaret Court Arena, while play eventually resumed on all courts shortly after 1700 (AEDT).
But play later had to be suspended for a second time on the outside courts at around 2000 after a sudden downpour hit Melbourne Park, with none of those matches allowed to resume until 2100 (AEDT) - and either postponed again or never resuming.
Meanwhile women's No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.3 Jessica Pegula are in action on Rod Laver Arena during the day on Wednesday, as is men's top seed Rafael Nadal.
One of the most hotly-anticipated match-ups will be 2021 US Open champion Emma Radacanu's night-time clash with fellow young gun Coco Gauff.
Resurgent Australian Jason Kubler will take on US Open semi-finalist Karen Khachanov while countrymen John Millman and Rinky Hijikata face tough tasks against Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively.
Youngster Olivia Gadecki will attempt to reach the third round when she takes on Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk on Kia Arena.
© AAP 2023