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Konta & Edmund to play on action-packed Tuesday after rain hits opening day

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Published in Tennis
Monday, 20 January 2020 03:08

Johanna Konta is one of six British players set to feature on day two of the Australian Open after the opening day's play was ruined by heavy rain.

British number one Konta was meant to play Tunisian world number 78 Ons Jabeur but it was one of the 32 matches not completed in Melbourne on Monday.

Kyle Edmund will also resume against Serb Dusan Lajovic with a 5-2 lead.

Fellow Britons Katie Boulter, Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Cameron Norrie also hope to play as planned.

They will look to join Dan Evans, who fought back to win in five sets on Monday, in the second round.

Forecasts are much improved for Melbourne Park on Tuesday, although state meteorologists predict a "medium chance" of morning showers before a "mostly sunny" afternoon.

Tournament organisers will be hoping for as little disruption as possible with 96 first-round matches - of which only nine have already started - set to take place.

Play on the outdoor courts will start half an hour earlier at 10:30am local time (23:30 GMT, Monday) in a bid to work through the backlog, with Konta's match first on 1573 Arena.

You can follow live coverage of her match on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website from 23:30 and follow further coverage of day two on Sports Extra's Tennis Breakfast show at 07:00 GMT.

Melbourne Park has three indoor arenas with retractable roofs - Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Melbourne Arena - and the show courts will continue to hold five matches as usual but some other courts are scheduled to have seven matches on them.

World number one Rafael Nadal, aiming to draw level with Roger Federer's all-time leading tally of 20 men's Grand Slam singles titles, is the standout name on Rod Laver Arena.

The 33-year-old Spaniard starts against Bolivia's Hugo Dellien, who is making his debut in the Australian Open main draw.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios also begins his campaign against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy on Melbourne Arena.

Konta glad to be 'back in the swing of things'

Konta comes into 2020's opening Grand Slam having only played one match since September's US Open.

The 28-year-old is continuing to manage a knee injury - a tendonitis-like inflammation - which she suffered in the latter stages of last season.

She did not play again in 2019 after losing to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the New York quarter-finals, making her return in Brisbane last week with a three-set defeat by Czech Barbora Strycova.

"Having played only one tournament in the past four months, I'm really happy to be back in the swing of things," Konta, who reached the Melbourne last four in 2016, told BBC Sport.

"Overall, I think practice is going well. I feel I am continuously building and getting better."

Edmund, 25, did manage to get on to court on Monday, going a break up against 24th seed Lajovic before they were forced off by the rain.

The 2018 Australian Open semi-finalist slid down the rankings last year, when he struggled for form and fitness. But he ended the year on a high by being Great Britain's standout player in their run to the Davis Cup semi-finals.

Edmund is hoping a new coach in Franco Davin, who notably helped his fellow Argentine Juan Martin del Potro win the 2009 US Open, can enable him to regain his 2018 form.

My footballer boyfriend has helped revive my career - Watson

British number two Watson says she is going into the Australian Open feeling "happy on and off the court", believing her new relationship with Yeovil Town footballer Courtney Duffus has particularly contributed to her improved results.

Watson, 27, is hoping to end a miserable run at the Grand Slams - and the Australian Open, in particular - by beating Czech world number 64 Kristyna Pliskova on Tuesday.

"He's super positive. I don't like boys to have too much influence over me but he has really been a good influence," a smiling Watson told reporters.

Watson has won just two main-draw Grand Slam matches in the past two years, with just one victory on her last six appearances in the main draw in Melbourne.

Twelve months ago Watson was tearful when she spoke to the media after losing to Czech Petra Martic - her third successive first-round defeat at a major.

That defeat was the second in an eight-match losing streak which continued until May last year, leading to her dropping out of the world's top 100.

But the Guernsey-born player has rediscovered her form in recent months, reaching the Tianjin Open final in her last tournament of 2019 and then making it to the Hobart semi-finals last week.

She partly puts this success down to starting a relationship with former Everton trainee Duffus, who she met in a London restaurant in July.

"The contrast between how I was last year and how I am this year is incredible," she said.

"In life in general I feel in a good place, I'm very happy and the support system around me is great.

"I think that is showing in my tennis and my results in the past five and six months."

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