Wawrinka relishing marathon matches at AO

MELBOURNE:

The Australian Open third round continues on Saturday with defending champions Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys in action while the brutal Melbourne heat has forced organisers into an early start.

Former champions Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka and Stan Wawrinka are playing in the night session.

Wawrinka v Fritz

Wildcard Stan Wawrinka is savouring every moment of his farewell Australian Open, even after grinding through another five-set thriller that has left the 40-year-old Swiss veteran with nearly eight hours of court time already under his belt.

The 2014 champion, who throughout his career has thrived when matches go the distance, advanced to the third round with a gruelling victory over Arthur Gea.

Wawrinka, who boasts an unusual career distinction of winning more Grand Slam titles than Masters events, believes the best-of-five-set format plays to his strengths.

"Grand Slams have always been in general better for me. I feel that I have more time to put my game, to find solutions," said Wawrinka, who has three majors to his name.

"Also I have good confidence in my fitness level that I can handle those long matches. For me, that's not a problem to really keep it up with the level."

He will face his biggest test yet against American ninth seed Taylor Fritz, who has dropped only one set so far despite coping with a knee injury.

"I'm probably getting a bit overconfident with how it feels because I'm on anti-inflammatories and stuff. It's obviously masking the pain," Fritz said.

Pliskova v Keys

Karolina Pliskova finds herself in the unfamiliar position of massive underdog as the former world number one attempts to rebuild her career from the bottom of the rankings after a year lost to injury.

Once a guaranteed fixture in the second week of Grand Slams, the Czech player now sits at a staggering 1,057 in the world rankings following two ankle surgeries that wiped out most of her 2025 season.

For the 33-year-old, simply playing more matches has become the priority as she embarks on the long climb back.

"Every win feels really important for me... It's a big difference to go from training (for) weeks to playing matches. So I think I need a little bit of that," the 33-year-old Czech player said.

Her next test comes against defending champion Madison Keys, a player she defeated in the 2020 Brisbane final in their only previous encounter. However, Pliskova acknowledges that the landscape has shifted dramatically since then.

"Of course, a lot of things changed. She won the Australian Open here last year. I was away for some time. So definitely, she's going to be the favourite here," Pliskova said.

"So I can only surprise, but let's see. I have my weapons. I think it can be a good match."

Early start at Australian Open

With the temperature set to rise to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, tournament organisers have decided to start matches an hour earlier than usual.

The event operates under an extreme heat policy that uses a Heat Stress Scale combining air temperature, radiant heat, wind speed and humidity to assess playing conditions, allowing officials to delay or suspend matches when thresholds are exceeded.

Organisers will also close the roof on the three showcourts depending on the conditions.