BORIS BECKER: Tennis players are superstitious characters who have a feel for where they are, and in Novak Djokovic's case you can tell that he is instantly comfortable in Australia.

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.

The Frenchman, who has been embroiled in a sexism storm over the incident during the qualifying match, said John Blom told him the girl was 'not his slave'.

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.

Federer's mum Lynette was born in South Africa, and this was the Swiss star's sixth installment of his 'Match for Africa' aid of his foundation. The Swiss superstar teamed up with Bill Gates.

Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov edged out Canadian eighth seed Denis Shapovalov 6-3 7-6(3) in a scrappy first round encounter at the Rotterdam Open on Monday.

PETER CARLINE IN ROTTERDAM: Gael Monfils was in unplayable mood as the world No 9 saw off British No 1 Dan Evans in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open. 

The British no 3 was broken three times by the world number 84 after taking an early 2-0 lead to surrender the first set 6-3. But Edmund later converted his first match point to wrap up the win.

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.

MIKE DICKSON: Kyle Edmund's revival of the past few months gathered further pace on Sunday when he took his second title on the main ATP Tour.

Kim Clijsters was beaten by Garbine Muguruza on her return to the professional circuit after nearly eight years in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Roger Federer is to miss the next three months of the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee, a reminder that even the greats are not immortal.

Di Lorenzo is ranked more than 250 places higher than the 23-year-old and two consecutive breaks put the American up 4-0 as she wrapped up the first set inside 26 minutes in Acapulco.

The Briton, who kicked off the week with a straight-sets win against Kim Clijsters, had 10 break points without converting a single one on her way to a first-set tie-break against her German opponent.

The Miami Open was cancelled earlier on Thursday but now the event in Monte-Carlo next month will not take place, as well as tournaments in Houston, Marrakech, Barcelona and Budapest.

World tennis has united to take a pointed swipe at the French Open, as the whole spring clay-court season was formally abandoned.

The world tennis number one sought advice from people around the world on how best to direct help where it is needed before making the donation, which is approximately £890,000.

Sixteen of the best players across the ATP and WTA tours will swap tennis rackets for video game controllers as it has been revealed the 2020 Madrid Open will now become a virtual competition. 

Tennis integrity chiefs fear a spike in corrupted matches when tournaments resume, as lower-ranked players become more desperate to make ends meet.

The Spaniard was announced alongside John Isner, Kiki Bertens and Fiona Ferro as the latest tennis stars to participate in the virtual event to help raise money for the coronavirus pandemic.

Bouchard recently tweeted that 'quarantine would be a lot more fun with a boyfriend' and has since been inundated with messages from fans, with one lucky follower bagging himself a date.

The tennis season was halted in early March due to the pandemic, leaving players in the lower tiers who depend solely on tournament winnings without the chance to earn a living.

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 world No 1 has suggested that he could delay his return to the tennis tour, were it to be made compulsory for him to take any safeguard that emerged against the virus.

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.

The 20-time grand-slam champion posted a series of tweets on Wednesday afternoon expressing his belief that the sport would be better off with one stronger governing body.

MIKE DICKSON: Roger Federer has sparked a conversation throughout the world of tennis by tweeting a suggestion about merging the governing bodies of the men's and women's game.

Rafael Nadal has endured a series of injuries during his illustrious career but the latest setback appeared to happen in the comfort of his own home. 

With his hair in need of a trim, world number one Djokovic gave wife Jelena the responsibility amid the coronavirus lockdown, and was happy with the end product, saying 'Not bad!'

Rapson admits staging the eight-man tournament in a corner of western Germany was a 'shot in the dark', but it was considered a sufficient success for four extra competitors to be added.

Great rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were united by the same misdemeanour this week - breaking the lockdown rules in Spain in order to practise.

EXCLUSIVE: Dan Evans will team up with Kieron Vorster, a no-nonsense South African whose clients have included ex-top-10 player Wayne Ferreira and ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

MELISSA KITE reveals how she closed the door on her childhood home near Coventry in March, and how her parents must still work part time because HS2 lawyers nailed them down on property price.

MELISSA KITE: Part of the reason is Carrie Symonds. I fear there is something female voters don't like about seeing a man well into his 50s with a girlfriend almost half his age in Downing Street.

He finally confirmed his romance with model Crystal Leigh on New Year's Eve following months of speculation. 

 5 Seconds Of Summer have released their first song in nearly two years.

He was romantically linked with Kendall Jenner in 2014 when they were pictured getting into a taxi together in New York.

He's a member of the acclaimed band 5 Seconds Of Summer, who hails from Sydney.

Australian pop rockers 5 Seconds Of Summer first burst onto the music scene as teens back in 2011 before attracting worldwide attention in 2013.

5 Seconds Of Summer's Luke Hemmings and girlfriend Sierra Deaton made their relationship Instagram official back in July. 

It's been quite a year for 5 Seconds Of Summer, with the band's latest album Youngblood topping the charts around the world.

They've been pictured together on several occasions since late 2017.

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.

They made a spectacular comeback last year with their Youngblood album and are currently promoting their new single, 'Easier'.