Seeing a friendly face is supposed to be a good thing.

Yet when Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa take to the court for their Australian Open semi-final on Thursday, it may only add to the pressure.

The pair are close friends with Sabalenka going so far as to call Badosa her "soulmate" in Stuttgart last year.

"I love Paula very much," the 26-year-old Belarusian said.

"She is an incredible person. It is very important to have friends on the circuit, so when you find someone who you feel is your soulmate, it is the best thing that can happen to you."

Their friendship has grown over the past few years with the pair practising together and wearing matching outfits during the 2024 US Open, as well as posting about each other on social media.

"We realised that we had very similar personalities and we get along very well, and that we're both very, very competitive," Badosa told the Tennis Channel's Inside-In podcast, external in March.

"It's very nice for me having a friend on tour because it's very tough to find."

But with a place in the final at stake, that friendship will have to be put on hold in Melbourne.

This is not the first meeting between the two - they have played eight times before, with Sabalenka winning the past six - but it is comfortably the most high-profile.

World number one Sabalenka is bidding to win a third straight Australian Open title, while it is 27-year-old Badosa's first time in the last four of a Grand Slam.

The Spaniard shocked sixth seed Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals as her remarkable recovery from a back injury, that she feared would force her to retire only a year ago, continues.

"It's tough to play your best friend," Sabalenka said after beating Badosa in Stuttgart.

However, difficult as it may be, once they walk out on Rod Laver Arena, all sentiment will be put to one side.

"We know how to separate things," Badosa added.

"We decided a long time ago that off the court we are friends, while on the court she really wants to win, I really want to win," said Sabalenka, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals.

"So on the court we are competitors and there is no place for friendship."

Earlier this week, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic refused to do his usual on-court interview after his fourth-round win against Jiri Lehecka following what he described as "insulting and offensive" comments by Channel Nine's Tony Jones.

Jones shouted "Novak, he's over-rated, Novak's a has-been, Novak kick him out" towards Djokovic fans while live on air at the Australian Open on Friday.

The Australian broadcaster has since apologised for his remarks but Shelton says that incident was not a one-off.

"I've been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters," he said.

"I don't think that [Djokovic being mocked] was just a single event. I've noticed it with different people, not just myself."

Shelton also referred to an "embarrassing and disrespectful" on-court interview with 19-year-old American Learner Tien after his shock second-round victory against fifth seed Daniil Medvedev.

The on-court interviewer told Tien "19-year-olds aren't meant to be that good" before asking him if he had heard of his third-round opponent Corentin Moutet.

"I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments," added Shelton.

"I feel like there's just been a lot of negativity. I think that's something that needs to change."

BBC Sport has contacted Tennis Australia, which organises the Australian Open, for comment.

A clear double bounce in the Australian Open quarter-final between Iga Swiatek and Emma Navarro has reignited the debate over how tennis uses video technology.

Navarro lost a point when she trailed 6-1 2-2 A-40 despite the ball bouncing twice in front of a stretching Swiatek, who went on to win 6-1 6-2.

Because Navarro continued playing, instead of immediately stopping the point, the American eighth seed was unable to challenge the call.

The Australian Open has introduced a video review system for the first time this year - but it can only be used on a point ending call or when a player stops play.

Afterwards Navarro said the incident did not "cause a momentum swing" but still believes there should be a change to the system.

"I think we should be able to see it afterwards," Navarro said.

"It happened so fast. In the back of your head you're like, 'OK maybe I can still win the point even though it wasn't called'.

"It's going to be a downer if I stop the point and it turns out it wasn't a double bounce.

"It's tough."

Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek said she "wasn't sure" if it was a double bounce after it was suggested she should have conceded the point.

"It was hard to say because I was full sprinting. I don't remember even seeing the contact point," said the Polish second seed.

"I don't know. Sometimes you don't really look when you hit the ball.

"I thought this is like the umpire's kind of job to call it. I was also waiting for the VAR, but I didn't see it so I just proceeded."

Anticipation was high among the Australian fans arriving at Rod Laver Arena that De Minaur could cause a shock - particularly given the uncertainty about Sinner's condition.

A pale-looking Sinner was visibly shaking in his chair during his fourth-round win over Rune and benefitted from an enforced 20-minute break when the net broke.

But Sinner looked healthy in a performance where he proved again to be a class above De Minaur.

The world number one struck the ball sweetly and consistently to outlast De Minaur in the rallies.

Clinching six breaks of serves, and saving just the one chance for De Minaur in the second set, illustrated his dominance.

Afterwards Sinner said he had "a very easy day" on Tuesday, hitting with his coaches for only "half an hour or 40 minutes" to maintain rhythm.

"I felt ready for today," Sinner added.

"When you play a night session you try to sleep as long as you can and eat healthy."

De Minaur came into the match with a terrible record against his opponent, losing all nine of their previous meetings and winning just one set in the process.

The 25-year-old Australian was looking to end that unwanted run and become the first home player since 2005 to reach the men's singles semi-finals.

But what was expected to be a raucous atmosphere failed to materialise on a cool Melbourne night.

It was testament to Sinner's assured display that he largely silenced the majority of the 15,000 fans.

"Right now my worst match-up on tour is Jannik. The head to head doesn't lie," said De Minaur.

"In these types of conditions where it's a little bit colder and you can't really get the ball out of his strike zone, he can just unload and not miss. It's tough."

Jones won 100 international caps with 95 games for Wales and five Tests for the British and Irish Lions on two tours.

He was awarded the first of his caps in 2003 against England and went on to win four Six Nations titles and compete in three World Cups.

Jones toured with the Lions in South Africa in 2009 and proved a cornerstone on the victorious series win in Australia four years later.

He starred for Neath and Ospreys, and played a season for Cardiff Blues before joining Harlequins in 2015.

After combining coaching and playing duties, Jones announced his retirement in 2018 to take up a full-time coaching role at Quins, where he has helped props like Joe Marler, Kyle Sinckler and Fin Baxter.

"Representing your country as a player or a coach is a great honour," said Harlequins director of rugby Billy Millard.

"When we were informed of Adam's opportunity, we wanted to work collaboratively with him and the Welsh Rugby Union on a solution that catered for all.

"We have no doubt he'll benefit greatly from the exposure of coaching at international level and take learnings from the experience, while continuing to support Danny [Wilson] and the wider coaching staff throughout the Premiership Rugby Cup campaign."

Former Harlequins and Wales centre and current WRU board member Jamie Roberts benefitted from McCann's work in his playing days.

'It's brilliant for the playing group to have someone of Andy's experience and wisdom to lean on during the upcoming Six Nations campaign," said Roberts.

"Having been around the camp for many years during Warren's first tenure, I know from experience that Andy's mental and motivational skillset played a pivotal role in supporting the growth, confidence, and performance of many of the household names of that generation."

Ireland's opening encounter against England offers up a chance to avenge last year's defeat by Steve Borthwick's side at Twickenham, which denied the Irish a second consecutive Grand Slam.

"We've got England at home first which sharpens the mind definitely so it's hard to look too far beyond them," explained the Leinster back-rower.

"Momentum is so big in this competition that if you don't get the first game right you're kind of trying to play catch-up. So it's all about England and preparing as best as possible for that game.

"There's a lot of belief within the group but there's also the feeling that we can improve a tonne still."

Doris is eager to atone for the disappointment of the agonising 23-22 reverse suffered against England last March.

"I don't think we were quite there defensively. They've got very dangerous ball carriers, but the number of missed tackles for us, for me personally, wasn't where we are capable of being definitely," Doris said.

"Our attack, it felt like in the first half we didn't fire a whole lot of shots, then we started the second half well, ended up leading.

"Even though some of England's results hadn't gone too well prior to that game we were aware that they were a quality team. You rewind only six months from that game and they were in a semi-final of the World Cup."

Gatland says he will aim to ignore external criticism.

"It's been about creating some positivity," said Gatland.

"It is almost like creating a siege mentality and realising there is a lot of negativity and criticism from outside towards myself and the coaches and the players.

"We need to put some confidence back in and create that self-belief. It's about bonding and working hard as a group.

"The messaging is to try and get rid of that negativity, don't let social media take over too much of what is being said externally.

"Sometimes it creates a bond within a group with some positive momentum going into the tournament."

Gatland says patience is needed as Wales build towards the 2027 World Cup.

"We have stated we are building towards 2027," said Gatland.

"It is going to take a bit of time when you lose so much experience and have youngsters now.

"We have a young group we are trying to build with.

"For this tournament, we have players like Taulupe Faletau, Josh Adams and Daf Jenkins back and they are going to make a big difference to us.

"It is a British and Irish Lions year, so that is something for the players to be excited for."