Australian Open 2022: When is it, how to watch in the UK, who are Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray playing and has Australia cancelled Novak Djokovic's visa?

With rising Covid cases across the country, officials of the Australian Open have announced that matches on the show courts will have a 50 per cent capacity.

Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena remain unaffected but Novak Djokovic may be unable to defend his Australian Open title as he currently faces deportation due to his vaccination status.

Here is everything you need to know about the Australian Open 2022:

When will the Australian Open take place?

The first round of the Australian Open is set to take place in Melbourne on Monday (January 17).

The competition will run throughout the week, with the women's singles final taking place on Saturday, January 29, and the men's singles final taking place on Sunday, January 30.

How to watch in the UK

The daytime sessions usually start at midnight in the UK, with the evening sessions in Melbourne beginning at around 8am GMT.

The Australian Open will be shown exclusively on Eurosport but you can also stream every match on Discovery+.

Sky Sports subscribers who have Eurosport as part of their package will be able to watch the sessions via the Sky Go app.

What British players are taking part?

Andy Murray is set to face Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of the Open.

The pair have already competed against each other this month on Australian soil during the Sydney Tennis Classic.

The match saw Andy beat Nikoloz 6-7-7-6-6-3.

Cameron Norrie, who has a 12th place world ranking in the singles, will face Sebastian Korda, while Dan Evans will face David Goffin.

Emma Raducanu faced defeat in her first match of the year against Elena Rybakina during the first round of the Sydney Classic.

The US Open champion is set to face Sloane Stephens in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.

Heather Watson is set to face Mayar Sherif in the first round.

Harriet Dart qualified for the first round of the Australian Open this morning after she overcame Australian wild card Kimberly Birrell.

Who are the top seeds of the competition?

The top seed is the player that the tournament committee deems the strongest player of the competition.

Novak Djokovic is currently the top seed in the men's draw, as he hopes to compete for his tenth title in Melbourne.

If he wins the Australian Open, Novak will have won 21 Grand Slams, beating the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Daniil Medvedev is the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the draw, with Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in third and fourth place respectively.

In the women's Open, Ash Barty ranks as the top seed after winning the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon.

Aryna Sablenka is the second seed, Gabrine Muguruza is the third, and last year's French Open champion Barbora Krejcíkova is the fourth seed.

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Will Novak Djokovic play in the Australian Open?

It was announced this morning that the Serbian tennis star's visa has been revoked for the second time.

Novak has been involved in a row over his right to remain in Australia whilst he is unvaccinated.

Australia's Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said in a statement: 'Today I exercised my power... to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so.’

The visa was first cancelled on arrival in Melbourne last week when his Covid vaccination exemption was questioned.

He won a court appeal against the cancellation and this allowed him to remain in the country.

The tennis champion is currently being investigated by the Australian Border Force and could face deportation.

Novak is set to meet with immigration officials in Melbourne tomorrow and will be allowed to stay in his accommodation tonight.

The nine-time Australian Open winner remains in the draw but if he is deported, his slot is most likely to go to Russia's Andrey Rublev.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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