France's Alize Cornet is attended to by a trainer and tournament staff after suffering from the heat during her third round match. Photo / AP.
Another day of searing heat is likely to push players to the limit at the Australian Open with Nick Kyrgios set to headline day five proceedings on Rod Laver Arena.
The mercury is forecast to reach 42C at Melbourne Park on Friday, raising the prospect of some matches being halted and other marquee showdowns being played indoors.
Kyrgios, Australia's last remaining male contender, should benefit from a late-afternoon cool change ahead of his evening match against childhood idol Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Should Kyrgios win through to the fourth round, he will face either third seed Grigor Dimitrov or Russian powerhouse Andrey Rublev.
A reigning semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, Dimitrov will be out for revenge after losing to Rublev in straight sets at last year's US Open. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will take on Bosnian 28th seed Damir Dzumhur on Margaret Court Arena while Marin Cilic faces unseeded American Ryan Harrison. In the women's field, title favourite Elina Svitolina is set for an all- Ukrainian showdown with teenage sensation Marta Kostyuk. The 15-year-old qualifier could prove spoiler for Svitolina, who is the last seeded player in her quarter of the draw.
Frenchman Gael Monfils, who was close to collapsing in the 39C heat during his loss to Novak Djokovic, described Thursday's conditions as the toughest he had faced.
"Good luck to them," he said of the players scheduled to take the court on Friday. "I'm telling you, I was dying on the court for 40 minutes."
'Do you know where you are?'
France's Alize Cornet became completely overwhelmed by the 40C heat in Melbourne during the second set of her third round match against Elise Mertens.
In troubling scenes, Cornet laid down on the baseline before being attended to by the medical team and having her blood pressure taken. Microphones picked up her being asked "do you know where you are?".
Cornet was trailing 7-5 3-1 when the incident occurred. "These are difficult moments for everyone," the commentator said. "Difficult to watch. Difficult for her opponent ... and Mertens has got to remain ruthless here."
Svitolina records an Aussie best
Women's fourth seed Elina Svitolina made light work of 15-year-old sensation Marta Kostyuk in an all-Ukraine battle.
Svitolina won 6-2 6-2 to make the fourth round in Australia for the first time.
In the men's Kyle Edmund survived a five-set epic against Nikoloz Basilashvili to score one for the Brits. Edmund won 7-6 3-6 4-6 6-0 7-5 to set up a fourth-round clash against the winner of Andreas Seppi-Ivo Karlovic.
Roddick weighs into Federer furore
Andy Roddick has offered whingeing tennis fans a dose of reality when it comes to Roger Federer's preferential treatment at the Australian Open.
Many felt it was unfair Federer enjoyed the comforts of a night session on a searingly hot day in Melbourne while rival Novak Djokovic sweated it out in the afternoon in a marquee clash against Gael Monfils.
Roddick said he had long ago accepted tennis's big stars would get right of way when it came to fixturing.
"Let's not pretend like this isn't a business," said Roddick, in a series of responses to fans on Twitter. "The longer Roger is in an event, the more eyeballs are on screens, the more ad/sponsor money in etc ... so yes, they will listen to what the stars have to say. It's sensical.
"I can't tell you how many times at US based (tournaments) I played second night match after Andre (Agassi)/Pete (Sampras). Not the preferred time (with) recovery etc. (But) I couldn't possibly complain, as they built the tournaments and audiences I was gonna play for."
After one user suggested the situation wasn't fair, Roddick replied sarcastically: "I'm sure tennis would be much better off as a whole if they played Roger/Rafa/Serena/Novak/Maria out on court 13 just as often as everyone else ... I feel like I'm taking crazy pills."
Federer downplayed the suffocating heat, saying it was part of the game and players should be prepared.
Federer said he had played in searing Australian temperatures plenty of times and experienced worse.
"If you want to get to the top, you've got to play in all conditions," he said. "We know it can be very hot here in Australia. I remember the days when we had four days of 40 degrees in a row a few years back. Now we got two.
"It's definitely a challenge," he added. "It's hard to prepare for that in some ways. But you know when you come down here that can happen.
"Sure, I was watching the other players suffer. As long as nothing bad happens, it's all good."
New deal puts women on top
IN a week where reports of male players demanding more prizemoney at grand slams have surfaced, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has announced a lucrative new deal that will see its biggest stars handsomely rewarded over the next decade.
The WTA announced on Thursday its year-ending tour finals will move from Singapore to Shenzhen, China, for the next 10 years, bringing with it a whopping increase in prizemoney.
From 2019-2028 the WTA Finals, a round robin tournament played between the world's eight highest ranked singles players and doubles teams, will see stars play for a share of $AUD17.5 million in prizemoney — double the $8.75 million it currently stands at and well above the $10 million reserved for the men's ATP Tour Finals played in London at the end of every season.
"When you factor in the commitment to prize money and the commitments to the WTA, and you factor in the stadium build and real-estate elements, it's over a $1 billion dollar commitment they have made to the WTA Finals and the WTA," WTA chief executive and chairman Steve Simon said.
The long-term investment is a massive coup for women's tennis, which Novak Djokovic says is more popular than the men's game in China because of the success of female stars like two-time grand slam winner Li Na.
Djokovic made headlines at the start of the Australian Open with reports suggesting he was the main man driving a push for players on the ATP tour to receive a greater slice of grand slam revenue. He denied he spearheaded talks of unionising or boycotting events if pay demands weren't met, saying instead he and his peers merely took the chance in Melbourne to talk about issues in the sport because they are so rarely in the same place at the same time.
The Serbian congratulated the WTA on its announcement, saying his female colleagues "deserve" to fight for "the best possible tour for them".
He also said it is unfair to compare the $10 million in prizemoney on offer for the men to the $17.5 million figure revealed in the WTA's development, but believes the ATP needs to do more to "exploit" its most prestigious event (the ATP isn't in charge of grand slams) for the benefit of the players and the sport.
"In my opinion, this kind of event should travel, because it's just probably the biggest leverage that we have. I mean, outside grand slams — the ATP is obviously not behind grand slams — this is the biggest event the ATP has," Djokovic said.
"It's probably the biggest asset. Best eight players in the world, singles players, best doubles players, are playing there. Out on the market, I'm sure, as I was hearing, there was a lot of competition from a lot of different cities.
"London has always been the safest option, I would say, because of obviously different reasons and history. But I think it should be exploited a little bit more. It should be leveraged more because of the promotion of our sport.
"The World Tour Finals is, both men's and women's, the biggest asset we have in the sport that WTA and ATP control, (it can) can leverage on the market.
"If we want to grow our sport, especially in regions like China or those parts of the world where tennis is popular, I think we should think about it, just maybe travel it a little bit more."
As part of Shenzhen's power play to deepen the tour's commitment to China, leading Chinese real estate developer Gemdale Corporation — who submitted the winning bid — has pledged to build a new, $US450 million facility that will hold an indoor stadium with room for 12,000 people.
Maria Sharapova, who played in the Shenzhen Open at the start of this season, said the WTA was making a good strategic move to partner with "a place that's willing to invest in women's tennis.''
"They were the ones that put the money on the line,'' Sharapova said. "They are willing to grow our sport. They're willing to build a stadium, willing to accept the game and its level and the players.''
The abuse extends to her loved ones, with threats to her family.