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Australian Open 2021: Match schedule, seeds, scores and how to watch on TV in the UK

The first major of the 2021 tennis year - GETTY IMAGES
The first major of the 2021 tennis year - GETTY IMAGES

After a three-week delay from its traditional start date, the Australian Open is into its second week and many of the biggest names in the men's and women's game are still in the hunt for the title.

Tournament director Craig Tiley had the unenviable task of working alongside public health experts to manage the arrival of over 1,200 players and officials into the country on 15 charter flights with participants facing a strict two-week period in quarantine.

From Saturday, however, crowds have no longer been in attendance at Melbourne Park after the state of Victoria entered a five-day lockdown. Up to 30,000 fans had been allowed in each day but the tournament has continued behind closed doors after an outbreak of coronavirus in a hotel.

How are the big names getting on?

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka both survived close battles to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open while Simona Halep gained revenge on Iga Swiatek.

Third seed and title favourite Osaka saved two match points on her way to a 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory over last year's runner-up Garbine Muguruza before Williams battled to a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win against Aryna Sabalenka.

Williams next faces Halep, who was beaten heavily by Swiatek as the Polish teenager swept to her first grand slam title at the French Open but turned the tables to win 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Osaka will next face the highly unconventional Hsieh Su-wei, who at 35 became the oldest player to reach a first slam quarter-final in the Open era with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Marketa Vondrousova.

Jessica Pegula continued her breakthrough run at the Australian Open by knocking out Elina Svitolina, while Ashleigh Barty eased through to the quarter-finals, making it eight victories in a row with a 6-3 6-4 success against American Shelby Rogers.

Rafael Nadal looks to be peaking at the right time after brushing aside Fabio Fognini to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

The second seed came into the tournament with serious concerns over a back problem but revealed after beating Britain's Cameron Norrie in the third round that it had finally started to improve.

Fognini came from two sets down to beat Nadal at the US Open in 2015 but, after failing to convert a lead in the second set, he swiftly succumbed to a 6-3 6-4 6-2 defeat.

Novak Djokovic overcame discomfort from a muscle tear with painkillers to beat Milos Raonic and move into the quarter-finals.

Russian friends Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev will play each other for a spot in the last four after straightforward victories.

How have the Brits got on?

It was not a good start for the Brits as Katie Boulter fell to Daria Kasatkina in the first round 6-1 6-4 on the opening day. Twenty four hours later and British No1 Johanna Konta was forced to retire in the second set of her match against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan due to an abdominal injury.

Francesca Jones, on her Grand Slam main-draw debut, made a promising start against American Shelby Rogers before eventually losing 6-4, 6-1 to a player ranked almost 200 places higher. It left only Heather Watson as the sole female Briton in the main draw, the 28-year-old putting lack of preparation aside to beat Kristyna Pliskova and reach the second round. That was where her adventures ended, however, as she lost to Anett Kontaveit 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2.

In the men's draw, Cameron Norrie won the opening-round Battle of the Brits, beating 30th seed and British No1 Dan Evans 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round for the first time. He then defeated Russia's Roman Safiullin in four sets to reach the last 32 for the first time but came up against Nadal, who ended his - and British - hopes in straight sets.

Who are this year's seeds?

Men's seeds

  1. Novak Djokovic

  2. Rafael Nadal

  3. Dominic Thiem

  4. Daniil Medvedev

  5. Stefanos Tsitsipas

  6. Alexander Zverev

  7. Andrey Rublev

  8. Diego Schwartzman

  9. Matteo Berrettini

  10. Gael Monfils

  11. Denis Shapovalov

  12. Roberto Bautista Agut

  13. David Goffin

  14. Milos Raonic

  15. Pablo Carreno Busta

  16. Fabio Fognini

Women's seeds

  1. Ashleigh Barty

  2. Simona Halep

  3. Naomi Osaka

  4. Sofia Kenin

  5. Elina Svitolina

  6. Karolina Pliskova

  7. Aryna Sabalenka

  8. Bianca Andreescu

  9. Petra Kvitova

  10. Serena Williams

  11. Belinda Bencic

  12. Victoria Azarenka

  13. Johanna Konta

  14. Garbine Muguruza

  15. Iga Swiatek

  16. Petra Martic

Australian Open match dates

  • February 8 – Men's and women's singles first round

  • February 9 – Men's and women's singles first round

  • February 10 – Men's and women's singles second round

  • February 11 – Men's and women's singles second round

  • February 12 – Men's and women's singles third round

  • February 13 – Men's and women's singles third round

  • February 14 – Men's and women's singles fourth round

  • February 15 – Men's and women's singles fourth round

  • February 16 – Men's and women's singles quarter-finals

  • February 17 – Men's and women's singles quarter-finals

  • February 18 – Women's semi-finals and first men's semi-final

  • February 19 – Second men's semi-final

  • February 20 – Women's final

  • February 21 – Men's final

Who is missing at the Australian Open?

Roger Federer is the most high-profile absentee from Melbourne Park as he continues his recovery from double knee surgery in 2020.

Former British No 1 Andy Murray also misses the event after testing positive for Covid-19 and not being able to reach an agreement with the organisers over quarantining.

American John Isner opted to skip the tournament because he didn't want to be away from his family for an extended period of time.

In the women's draw, Kiki Bertens is out with injury while Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova withdrew after a positive coronavirus test.

Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska tested positive for a banned substance and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, the world No 29 lost her battle and will now depart from Australia, having travelled in the hope of winning her case.

Where to watch the Australian Open 2021 on TV

Eurosport has the rights to broadcast live action from Melbourne.

Coverage begins at midnight on February 8 which is the start of the first session of the tournament.

The BBC will also show a one-hour highlights package from the fourth round onwards

New innovations

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam to have electronic shot callers, instead of line judges, on every match court for the duration of the event.

Remote tracking cameras around the courts will automatically send the audio line calls, voiced by Australian front-line workers and other emergency services personnel, in real-time.