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Second-round singles action concludes Thursday at the 2023 Australian Open, where Casper Ruud and Novak Djokovic seek to build on solid opening wins at the first Grand Slam of the year.

Five-time finalist Andy Murray also returns to court, as the Scot tries to build on his epic win against Matteo Berrettini in an enticing clash against home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz are among the other names in action on Thursday, when men’s doubles action also commences. Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, and 2020 champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are among teams eyeing a fast start at Melbourne Park.

ATPTour.com runs through some key battles scheduled for Day 4 at the Australian Open.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

When Jenson Brooksby walks onto Rod Laver Arena to take on World No. 3 Casper Ruud on Thursday at the Australian Open, he’ll have to battle if he is to earn his second Top 5 win.

Thankfully, the American will be ready to do just that.

“I'm feeling pretty good right now,” Brooksby told ATPTour.com. “I’ve been working on getting tougher mentally. We put in more hours in the gym as well with the strength and also with the cardio too. I lost a little bit of that toughness last year from my training. So I think that's something that is going to be key.

“I am really starting to push harder in some areas and I feel like I'm in a good spot to, mentally and especially physically, go well and push myself to the limit.”

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Cameron Norrie was given a late-night scare by Constant Lestienne at the Australian Open on Wednesday, but the 11th seed showed nerves of steel to rally to victory against the free-hitting Frenchman and secure a third-round spot.

After the pair split the first two sets on Court 13, Lestienne delivered some classy all-court tennis to forge a 4-1 lead in the third set. In typical fashion, however, Great Britain’s Norrie stuck doggedly with his opponent to engineer a turnaround, ultimately sealing a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 in a three-hour, 13-minute clash that finished well after 1 a.m. local time.

The 27-year-old Norrie, who reached the final in Auckland last week, struck 58 winners including 17 aces to improve his ATP Head2Head series lead against Lestienne to 2-0. Despite the defeat, Lestienne will take confidence from his Grand Slam debut this week in Melbourne, where he defeated Thiago Monteiro before posing plenty of problems to a four-time tour-level champion.

Now into the Australian Open third round for the second time, Norrie will next take on 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals finalist Jiri Lehecka. The 21-year-old Czech downed American wild card Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to seal his maiden appearance in the third round of a major.

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The ATP and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) have today announced a groundbreaking collaboration to accelerate the professional development pathway for players in the American Collegiate system.

The collaboration will see ATP Challenger Tour playing opportunities allocated to the highest-ranked ITA College players for the first time. This forms part of a long-term strategy to promote the rise of young talent in the professional game and builds on opportunities offered to the world’s top-ranked ITF Junior players through the Accelerator Programme, which came into play at the start of the 2023 season.

Players ranked in the Top 20 of the ITA final singles rankings at the beginning of June, who have finished their education, will be granted up to eight Accelerator Spots at Challenger 50 and 75 tournaments, with opportunities split between main draw (Top 10) and qualifying (11-20). Players who reach the quarter-finals or better of the individual NCAA Division I Tennis Championships will also qualify for the Accelerator Programme if not already eligible via their ITA ranking. These opportunities will be available from 1 July each season, beginning in 2023, for a period of 12 months.

In addition, players who remain in education and qualify for the programme will receive six opportunities over six months (July–December), enabling them to benefit from the programme during their college off-season and parts of their individual fall season.

Providing further opportunity, eligible college players who achieve direct acceptance into Qualifying of ATP Challenger events via their Pepperstone ATP Ranking will be eligible for promotion into the main draw.

Stefanos Tsitsipas wasted little time in reaching the third round at the Australian Open on Wednesday when he moved past Australian wild card Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 to continue his title quest.

The Greek, who is a three-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, was in control throughout the one-hour, 32-minute clash against Hijikata. He constantly overpowered the World No. 169 with his fierce ballstriking, hitting 30 winners on Rod Laver Arena.

“It felt good out there,” Tsitsipas said. “The ball was coming out of the racquet really well. I really enjoyed myself, I was great for the entire match. I always enjoy playing on the Rod Laver Arena, I have some good memories here.”

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The World No. 4 successfully drove his backhand through the court to force Hijikata into errors and was strong on serve at the key moments, saving all five break points he faced to improve to 6-0 on the season. Tsitsipas will next meet Botic van de Zandschulp or Tallon Griekspoor.

Mackenzie McDonald on Wednesday earned the biggest win of his career inside Rod Laver Arena, where he upset of 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Australian Open. When the American returned inside, it hit him.

“I was in the locker room, and I was, like, ‘Hey, that's actually really big for me’, because I haven't beaten someone of that calibre,” McDonald said. “But honestly for me right now… I don't feel like much has changed too much. I'm going to keep going about how I'm doing things. I think I'm working really well with my coach.

“Even there I feel like I can take some learning lessons away from that match. I'm grateful I had that opportunity to play on that court and play against him, and I feel like I can just learn from it.”

Defeating the defending champion at any tournament is big. Taking out Nadal is a career-defining moment. But McDonald is not allowing himself to over celebrate the moment. It is that same level-headedness that helped him complete his victory against the hobbled Spaniard in the first place.

“It’s never over until it's over type thing. He didn't even want to roll over and quit. He kept fighting until basically the end, even though he maybe didn't have all his game,” McDonald said. “But I would say once I broke him maybe in that third set at the end there, it felt like he hadn't really seen any chances on my serve in that set, so I think I could have gone away with it there.”

Daniil Medvedev is heating up once again at the Australian Open.

The seventh seed overcame some early struggles on serve against home favourite John Millman on Wednesday in Melbourne, where he registered a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win to sail into the third round at the hard-court Grand Slam.

“I think it was a great match,” said Medvedev. “Even the score in the second and third doesn’t reflect everything that went on the court. First set he managed to break me three times. That’s not that often that it happens, so I’m a little bit disappointed with myself, but he played amazing. So big credit to John.”

With the win, Medvedev advanced to the third round for the fifth year in a row at Melbourne Park. The 26-year-old, who reached the championship match in 2021 and 2022 at the first Grand Slam of the year, is bidding to become the fourth man in the Open Era to reach three consecutive Australian Open finals.

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Rafael Nadal arrived in Melbourne in a tough moment, having lost six of his previous seven matches. But as always, the Spaniard had a positive attitude and was ready to battle as deep as possible at the Australian Open.

The top seed’s left hip prevented him from doing so. After falling behind Mackenzie McDonald on Wednesday in the second round, the lefty hurt his left hip running for a ball at 3-4 in the second set. From there, the match was the American’s for the taking, and take it McDonald did by a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 margin.

“Sometimes it's frustrating. Sometimes it's difficult to accept. Sometimes you feel super tired about all this stuff in terms of injuries. Can't come here and say, lying, that the life is fantastic and staying positive and keep fighting. Not now. Tomorrow starts another day," Nadal said. “Now it's a tough moment. It's a tough day, and you need to accept that, and keep going.

“In the end, I can't complain about my life at all. So just in terms of sports and in terms of injuries and tough moments, I mean, that's another one. Just can't say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I will be lying.

“Yeah, it's hard for me. But let's see. I mean, hopefully it’s nothing too bad. In the end [it] has been three positive weeks in terms of practice. So I really hope that [this] doesn't put me out of the court for a long time, because then it's tough to make all the recovery again. It’s not only the recovery. It's all the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level.”

Mackenzie McDonald upset a hobbled Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday in the second round of the Australian Open, eliminating the top seed after two hours and 32 minutes.

"I'm really happy with how I started that match," McDonald said. "I thought I was playing really well, serving great, returning well too. I was really taking it to him."

At 4-3 in the second set, Nadal moved to his left to chase a forehand on the first point of the game when he pulled up in pain with an apparent upper left leg injury. At 5-3, the defending champion left the court with a physio for a medical timeout. 

Although the 22-time Grand Slam champion battled on, he was clearly not 100 per cent physically for the rest of the match. It is the earliest exit at a major for Nadal since he lost in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open in five sets against countryman Fernando Verdasco.

"It was actually pretty tough to stay mentally engaged a little bit there, but I found a way to just pull it out, so I'm happy," McDonald said. "He's an incredible champion. He's never going to give up, regardless of the situation. Closing it out against a top guy like that is always tough.

Felix Auger-Aliassime was already upset once by Alex Molcan, less than one year ago in Marrakech. On Wednesday at the Australian Open, the Canadian narrowly avoided falling to 0-2 in the pair's ATP Head2Head with a comeback victory at the Australian Open.

The sixth seed stormed back from two sets down for a 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win in Margaret Court Arena, staying alive as he bids to improve upon his quarter-final run from last year in Melbourne.

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Molcan dominated the first two sets and much of the third with his variety and precision, with Auger-Aliassime hitting 39 unforced errors in the first three sets. But the Canadian's booming serve bought him time to recover, and he sparked into life after breaking for the first time in the match to lead 5-3 in the third set. Prior to that pivotal game, he had not seen a break point.

From 3-3 in the third, Auger-Aliassime won seven straight games as he began to inflict damage with his forehand and seize the momentum. While Molcan regrouped to claim the opening game of the final set, the Canadian's serve and his aggressive ground game proved too much down the stretch. He finished the match with 23 aces and 59 total winners.

Jannik Sinner earned his second straight-sets victory of the Australian Open fortnight on Wednesday, breezing past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in John Cain Arena.

While some first-round matches have yet to be completed due to rain, the 21-year-old Italian took full advantage of his opportunity on one of three roofed courts at Melbourne Park where he raced into the third round in one hour, 44 minutes.

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"I am very happy to be in the next round," Sinner said in his on-court interview, before thanking the fans for their support. "Very happy to play again here on this court, especially today, with the roof. Outside it's raining a lot, so hopefully it's not going to rain in the next days.

"For sure the level today was good. I served well. I returned very good also today because I think he's a very good server."

Three years ago Mackenzie McDonald played Rafael Nadal for the first time. The Spaniard was ruthless on the clay of Roland Garros, dismissing the American 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 in just one hour and 40 minutes.

“I lost that match. I said I wanted to play him on a hard court, so I guess this is my opportunity to do that. It’ll be fun,” said McDonald, who will face Nadal in the second round of the Australian Open. “It’ll be more fun than the French Open.”

McDonald’s journey to this moment began 24 years ago. At the age of three his father, Michael, put ‘Mackie’ in lessons with legendary coach Rosie Bareis at the Harbor Bay Club in Northern California.

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“I was super young, lots of hours. That’s some of the stuff that people don’t really see or know about,” said McDonald, who was so small at the time that Bareis would sit on a milk carton. “I was just swinging the racquet and she was sitting there dropping balls.”

Dante Bottini first watched Shang Juncheng play tennis at the age of 15. Bottini was coaching Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who practised with the teen. His first impression of ‘Jerry’ was simple.

“Amazing,” Bottini told ATPTour.com. “Very nice. Amazing player. I mean obviously he was very young, but I already could tell that he had great potential.”

It has not taken long for Shang to prove the Argentine’s instincts right. Aged 17, the Chinese star on Monday became the first man in history from his country to win a match at the Australian Open. That came after the teen successfully qualified for a Grand Slam on his first attempt.

“I'm a little surprised that I came this fast, but at the same time, I think it's all the hard work from my team and myself that paid off,” Shang said. “I think I'm just nothing else but excited about what's coming next.”

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Rinky Hijikata remembers his earliest days watching tennis, supporting fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt. The former World No. 1 was known for his grit and tenacity.

“I'd be in the backyard pumping my fist, doing his signature come on. I think he was a massive inspiration for me,” Hijikata told ATPTour.com. “I try implement a little bit of that fight in my own game and hopefully I can, even if I'm half the player he was, that would be a great career.”

When Hijikata was young, he would pick up balls for his siblings Shori and Kamiyu, who used to play. His father was a coach.

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“I had a racquet in my hand all the time and would have a little hit in their drink breaks,” Hijikata said. “And then I just loved it from the moment I picked up the racquet and then it hasn't stopped since.”

Novak Djokovic’s dominant performance in the opening round of the Australian Open isn’t the only positive he’s drawing on following Tuesday’s match.

With his tournament preparation limited due to a left hamstring injury, which he sustained during his title run at the Adelaide International 1 two weeks ago, Djokovic admitted that he had some concerns ahead of his match against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, whom he defeated 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

“I was kind of testing my leg a little bit,” Djokovic said after his match, in which he played with his left hamstring taped. “At the beginning I was a bit tight, mentally as well, to protect something that was bothering me for the last 10 days. So it took me a little bit of time to really get into the match and start moving more freely.

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“The great sign was that the longer the match went, the better I felt, the better I moved. It's not ideal, but it's getting there. Today was a really good test. Haven't had too much training in the last few days.”

Defending champion Rafael Nadal headlines a star-studded schedule Wednesday at the 2023 Australian Open, where the Spaniard seeks to carry the momentum from his opening win into a second-round clash against Mackenzie McDonald.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime are among the other ATP Tour stars in action from the top half of the draw on Day 3 at the first Grand Slam of the season, while 10 rescheduled bottom-half matches will also be played. They include home hope Thanasi Kokkinakis’ interrupted match against Fabio Fognini, in which the Australian is just two games short of victory.

ATPTour.com runs through some of the key matchups on show at Melbourne Park.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw

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If Casper Ruud lifts his maiden Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open this fortnight, he will rise to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

With incentive high, the Norwegian made the perfect start to his title and No. 1 quest Tuesday when he defeated Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach the second round in Melbourne.

"Thank you to everyone who stayed and came out to support me," Ruud said. "It is great to be back. I could not play here last year unfortunately, so I am very eager to have a good tournament. This was a good start. I think Tomas played well, very aggressive and played some great points in the third-set tie-break. It was frustrating but I managed to stay strong and earn the win."

Making his fourth appearance at the hard-court major, Ruud was made to work hard throughout his first ATP Head2Head meeting against Machac under the roof on Margaret Court Arena. The second seed was pulled around the court by the 22-year-old, who opened his shoulders to fire 52 winners.

However, after seeing his two-set advantage halved at the end of the third set, Ruud was not to be denied, overcoming the World No. 110 in a number of cat-and-mouse exchanges to triumph after three hours and 15 minutes.

Novak Djokovic made a lightning-fast start to his bid for a record-extending 10th Australian Open title on Tuesday, when the Serbian cruised past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena.

Playing his first match at Melbourne Park for two years, Djokovic maintained a high level throughout to claim a comfortable win despite an admirable effort from the World No. 75 Carballes Baena. The fourth seed converted five of nine break points to seal a two-hour, two-minute triumph and book a second-round meeting with Hugo Dellien or qualifier Enzo Couacaud.

“I really feel very happy that I’m back in Australia, back here on the court where I had the biggest success in my career,” said Djokovic, who has now won 22 consecutive matches on Rod Laver Arena since 2019. “This court is the most special court in my life, and I couldn’t ask for a better start to the tournament.

“I guess the more you win on a certain court, the more confident and comfortable you feel every next time you step on it. That’s probably one of the reasons. I’ve been fortunate to win a lot of matches on this court, particularly in the night sessions. If I had to choose one court and conditions, it would be night session on Rod Laver Arena, all night long.”

The win extended Djokovic’s winning streak on Australian soil to 35. Should the 35-year-old lift the trophy this fortnight, he will equal Rafael Nadal’s record tally of 22 Grand Slam crowns, while a 10th Melbourne triumph would also see Djokovic return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since last June.

Grand Slam wins may have become less frequent in recent years for Andy Murray, but the Scot still has what it takes to beat the best on the big stage.

“I think the last few years, I've certainly questioned myself at times,” admitted former World No. 1 Murray after outlasting Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open for his first Top 20 victory at a Grand Slam in more than four years. “There's certainly a lot of people [that] questioned me and my ability, whether I could still perform at the biggest events and the biggest matches.

“I felt very proud of myself after the match. That's not something that I generally felt over the years at the end of tennis matches.”

Murray defied a stirring Berrettini comeback from two-sets-to-love down on Rod Laver Arena, saving a match point before dominating the deciding-set tie-break to seal a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(10-6) win. After a series of tough defeats in similarly close encounters at the majors in recent times, the three-time Grand Slam champion believes Tuesday’s victory is just reward for some hard off-season graft.

“I think I'm proud of the work that I put in the last few months,” said Murray, who fell to Berrettini in four sets at the 2022 US Open. “I trained really, really hard over in Florida getting ready to play here. I'm really proud of how I fought through that match at the end, like I said, when it could have got away from me, how I played in the tie-break at the end.

With his back against the wall, Alexander Zverev found a way to reach the second round at the Australian Open Tuesday when he clawed past Peruvian lucky loser Juan Pablo Varillas in five sets.

Trailing by two sets to one, the German rose to the occasion, rallying past the World No. 103 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4 to earn his first tour-level win of the season.

Zverev tore several lateral ligaments in his right foot during his Roland Garros semi-final clash against Rafael Nadal in June and only returned to Tour at the United Cup last month. Competing in his third match of the year, the World No. 12 refused to go away against Varillas, striking 69 winners to seal victory in four hours and nine minutes.

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"I am extremely happy because I missed this over the past seven months," Zverev said. "This match alone pays off for all the hard work and suffering that I have had. To win in front of this kind of crowd again. I can't wait for the rest of the tournament. No matter what happens from now, the tournament is already a success for me."