Australian Open 2020: Day 5 Schedule, Preview and Order of Play

The dusty rain did cause delayed starts on Day 4 of the Australian Open, but that did not prevent either Daniil Medvedev or Dominic Thiem from advancing to the third round.

While Medvedev powered his way past Pedro Martinez, the Melbourne crowd inspired local lad Alex Bolt to stretch Thiem before the Austrian finally prevailed in a five-set classic.

Day 5 promises to be a lot more exhilarating with some big names lined up for the third round matches in both sessions.

Ladies top-seed Ashleigh Barty will need to be at her best against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan while Serena Williams will be looking to continue her dominant run when she takes on Qiang Wang.

Both the above matches are scheduled for the day session at the Rod Laver Arena as is the big one between Novak Djokovic and Yoshihito Nishioka.

Tennis buffs are in for an absolute treat on Friday, as the night session continues to be just as exciting with the third-seeded players of both the men's and women's events in action.

Roger Federer will take on Australia's John Millman while ladies defending champion Naomi Osaka will be hoping to end Coco Gauff's dream run.

At the Margaret Court Arena, seventh-seed Petra Kvitova faces a tough challenge when she takes on Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the morning while Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Milos Raonic in a contest that could well be the closest of the day.

In a first-round clash of the men's doubles event, the Aussie duo of Lleyton Hewitt and Jordan Thompson will take on Nam Ji-sung and Song Min-kyu of South Korea.