Preview Australian Open Day Six | An earlier start but a stacked day with Sinner, Djokovic, Osaka, Swiatek, Anisimova in action

We head towards the end of the third round at the Australian Open with an earlier start on Saturday due to the extreme heat so very much be on guard for any potential issues on that front but Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova to name but a few are in action.

Time to run through some of the top ties on what is Day Six at the so-called Happy Slam with the second week in their sights firmly.

As is often the case, Novak Djokovic will get his usual primetime slot at the Australian Open which will be 7pm local also known as 9am European time. He will face off though against one of the most infamous spoilers when it comes to dumping out top names in the form of Botic van de Zandschulp third on Rod Laver Arena.

Van de Zandschulp whether it is Alcaraz or even Djokovic last year or ending the career of Rafael Nadal seems to have some way of not caring about the top names and is a bit of a feared opponent inside that echo chamber. He saw off Djokovic in one of only two meetings back in March last year winning in three at Indian Wells so their Head-to-Head is tied at 1-1. Djokovic won the other at Astana seeing off the Dutchman 6-3, 6-1. Either Djokovic in this will railroad him or it'll be a struggle/upset. Often hard to tell with the Serbian icon.

Starting it all off will be Madison Keys, the defending champion who will face Karolina Pliskova who admitted earlier in the week that she isn't really sure how long she is going to play on for. Having been dogged by injury issues, the Czech ace has fought valiantly at this tournament and with her shelf life seemingly expiring in her own mind, it could be one final time for her to get her flowers.

She faces Keys who perhaps would've been in a similar position in that like Pliskova she was one of the best players not to win a huge title up until she had her dream run in Australia. It has not exactly been easy since then for Keys but also has been a semi concerted effort with the American taking time off to enjoy what in reality was a career defining moment. Can she recapture that magic.

Head to Head wise, Pliskova won their only meeting back in 2020 in the Brisbane final. Then onto Jannik Sinner.

Sinner has very much eased past his business thus far but in reality hasn't had to work for too much in his matches anyway. Against Hugo Gaston, it was a walkover and against James Duckworth, it was pretty academic in favour of him. So he hasn't been tested much. He now faces Eliot Spizzirri. A fast rising American who at 24 has made debuts in the top 100, reached two ATP Quarter-Finals and has constantly continued to break new ground. Sinner though of course will be a tall order though for him. But can he shock the world?

Finally we will see the return of Naomi Osaka who has made major headlines and not about her tennis really the past two games. In her opener, she wore an incredible viral outfit which was a real moment and in the second game we had come on gate with Sorana Cirstea where she was accused of hindrance and was given a frosty handshake at the net by the retiring Romanian.

She will have to battle the crowd as well as her opponent next with the only Aussie left in Maddison Inglis aiming to topple her. Only her and De Minaur have made it to this point from the Aussie contingent and it is up to her to withhold honour.

While on Margaret Court Arena, it is very much a day for the Americans with many of their top stars perhaps only really minus Taylor Fritz who is elsewhere and Coco Gauff who has already won through.

Jessica Pegula opens proceedings off on Margaret Court when she takes on Oksana Selekhmeteva. While it will be Amanda Anisimova who is seen as one of the favourites for the title up next, she faces off against Peyton Stearns in what is bound to be a fiery affair between two players who leave it on the court.

Ben Shelton then takes on the Shanghai Master in Valentin Vacherot fresh off defeating two of the remaining Australian's in the men's draw each themselves. Also on MCA is Iga Swiatek taking on Anna Kalinskaya.

This could be a sleeper pick for an upset with Kalinskaya previously beating her famously in Dubai. But she has lost twice since then in Cincinnati and also the US Open albeit Kalinskaya has never been in better shape for some time so could cause Swiatek issues in her quest for a career Grand Slam.

Finally Marin Cilic faces Casper Ruud to finish off the Margaret Court slate. Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina headline on John Cain with Fritz taking on perhaps the final Aussie stand of Stan Wawrinka while Rybakina faces the rising Czech star (yeah another one) in Tereza Valentova to finish it off. Elise Mertens and Lorenzo Musetti also on that court while Jakub Mensik - Ethan Quinn is probably the pick of the other games.