Kooyong injuries

While players battled heat in Sydney, in Melbourne men's world number 12 Juan Monaco and 19 Kei Nishikori's final Australian Open preparations were in doubt.

Argentina's Monaco withdrew from the invitational Kooyong tournament with a hand injury and his spot in the eight man tournament, which starts on Wednesday, was taken by Paul-Henri Mathieu, tournament director Colin Stubs said.

Japan's Nishikori also told reporters the knee injury that forced him out of the semifinals in Brisbane on Saturday was still causing him problems and he did not know if he would play at Kooyong.

"I don't know," he said when asked if whether he could play. "I'm going to try to hit today and let's see how it goes.

"It's not bad. Let's cross the fingers and hopefully it will be okay."