MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Evans was on Thursday given a winnable path through to that potential meeting, starting with a first-round match against American MacKenzie McDonald.

EXCLUSIVE: Mats Wilander knows a thing or two about the Australian Open having lifted it three times during his illustrious career. Sportsmail caught up with him to get his tips for the tournament.

Organisers of the Australian Open are bullish that the event will start and finish on time after the smoke haze relented on Thursday in Melbourne.

Alexander Zverev has opened a war of words with Nick Kyrgios after dismissing his chances of winning the Australia Open and claiming 'there are a lot of young guys better than him'.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Roger Federer resurfaced at the Australian Open - and it was not the usual early season celebration of the sport's highest profile athlete.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: All it took to transform Nick Kyrgios's image in his own country was one idea and one sentence getting caught in his throat.

What reasons are there to tune in this time? Well, there is excitement around Coco Gauff, Serena Williams in pursuit of a landmark and Rafael Nadal eyes revenge after ATP Cup final defeat.

Roger Federer showed no signs of rust from his lack of match practice ahead of the Australian Open by hammering American Steve Johnson 6-3 6-2 6-2 in the first round on Monday.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Exiled to a court on the outer limits of Melbourne Park, Dan Evans was not about to get ideas above his station.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Jo Konta's problems when faced with players who bring a box of tricks to the court surfaced again on Tuesday morning when she was bundled out of the Australian Open.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Kyle Edmund and Jo Konta suffered a thudding disappointment at the Australian Open as a big day for British singles players started woefully.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Maria Sharapova's precipitous tumble down the rankings continued after she was bundled out of the Australian Open first round by Donna Vekic.

And the No 7 seed will also offer up $10,000 (£6,180) for every match he wins in the first major of the tennis calendar if he fails to win the tournament.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Here, Sportsmail's Tennis Correspondent rounds up some of the things you may have missed from day three of the action in Australia.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Sportsmail's tennis correspondent Mike Dickson rounds up some of the things you may have missed from day six in Melbourne.

PETER CARLINE IN ROTTERDAM: The World No 9 looked every part the defending champion, preying on the weaknesses of Auger-Aliassime to triumph in an hour and 26 minutes.

The Mouratoglou Academy will host real tennis matches between some of the world's greatest players which will be streamed live to fans across the world during COVID-19 lockdown.

The days of Paul Jubb having to forego his Wimbledon prize money are over, now that he is formally leaving college in America to turn professional.

5 Seconds Of Summer star Luke Hemmings was spreading the Christmas cheer at Sydney airport on Thursday.

They're the Australian pop-rock group making waves right around the world.

He debuted his striking red hair on Christmas Day.

He debuted his striking red hair on Christmas Day. 

It's been a busy year for 5 Seconds of Summer, with their single Youngblood spending an impressive 46 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Michael Clifford treated his fiancée Crystal Leigh to a vegan feast for her birthday recently.

They made a spectacular comeback last year with their Youngblood album.

They're the Sydney born rockers who split their time between living LA and touring the globe.

It's always sunny in California and 5 Seconds Of Summer star Ashton Irwin took advantage of the stunning winter weather in Los Angeles on Wednesday. 

All four members of the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) grew-up Down Under. 

Phones 4U founder JOHN CAUDWELL: The lockdown has gripped our economy in a deadly embrace - one from which it may never fully recover.

STEPHEN GLOVER: Many people will have been uplifted by Boris Johnson's (pictured) stirring speech yesterday outside No 10.

Boris Johnson was warned by his own Tory MPs today that prolonging the UK's coronavirus lockdown could result in a 'tidal wave of human misery'.

Gyms in the UK are unlikely to reopen until at least the autumn with October being touted as a realistic return date for fitness fanatics, according to reports.

The Government is relying on the 'R' figure - the average number of people a coronavirus patient infects - to tell them when it is safe to unlock the UK. But experts have said the measure it is 'too crude'.

Sunday sees the premiere of The Class of '92 charting the extraordinary rise of a band of Manchester United youngsters. One of them, Gary Neville, sits down with another, Paul Scholes, and coach Eric Harrison.

These pictures will make even the most confident climber's palms sweat. That's because they show some of the world's bravest daredevils proving that they have limitless reserves of derring-do.

After a trip to Venice that didn't go so well, Charlotte Metcalf and her teenage daughter Deia decided to head for Malta to check out the island's sightseeing, shopping and restaurant scene.

Laurence Fox visited the Barberyn retreat in Beruwala, on Sri Lanka's west coast, to undergo a 'no-frills detox'. He met with an Ayurvedic doctor and enjoyed beach walks and restorative massages.

The home rental site is offering 50 virtual experiences from around the world, staring from £1, as a 'new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income' during the coronavirus crisis.

Rising in jaw-dropping fashion out of the picture-perfect Seppeltsfield vineyard in Australia's Barossa region, this 12-storey building will be a sight to behold when it opens in 2022.

Once a crucial cog in the wheel of British industry, Britain's 2,200 navigable miles of canals make for a brilliant staycation. Here Joanna Tweedy rounds up the best waterways to explore.

North America's Great Lakes are a recreational mecca, offering all manner of watersports and scenic cruises. They're also a gigantic graveyard - of shipwrecks.

The haunting images by German photographer Dieter Klein appear in stunning new coffee table book Lost Wheels - The Nostalgic Beauty of Abandoned Cars, which is out next month.

Jampal Williamson, co-founder of the aerial photography firm Salty Wings, snapped a number of beaches including Bondi, Bronte, Maroubra and Gordons Bay.

The Mail on Sunday's Jo Kessel and her three teenage children boarded the Ventus Australis, a new cruise ship that explores Patagonia's remotest waters.

Food lovers should visit Japan when the world returns to normal, says Paul Hollywood. He recalls the best meal he's ever had - from a stall in Osaka - and a 'Michelin-starred Pot Noodle' in Tokyo.

As many as 150,000 flamingos have migrated to wetlands in a Mumbai suburb. As India remains under a nationwide lockdown, lower pollution levels have been cited for the increased number.

Mark Twain once quoted a Mauritius local as saying that 'heaven was copied after Mauritius' after he visited in 1896. The Daily Mail's Kate Johnson headed to the island to see if it still rings true.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that although Project Sunrise had 'huge potential' it would not be the right time to pursue it 'given the impact Covid-19 has had on world travel'.

Over 14,000 photos were submitted, with the entries in the final reckoning including pictures of flowers in Vietnam, a chick being fed in Bangladesh and a dreamy Tuscan landscape.

They were taken by French photographer Romain Veillon inside the city of Autun jail, which has a design much-dreaded among prisoners - panopticon. It has been abandoned since 1956.