MELBOURNE - Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams will be hoping to get the Australian Open off to a sizzling start when they play back-to-back on Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
The weather also looks set to do its part in keeping temperatures high from the off at Melbourne Park with peaks of 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit) forecast for the opening day of the year's first grand slam.
The two dominant players of last year, Djokovic and Williams are no strangers to the heat of the Australian summer, of course, but sweltering conditions might help expose any flaws in their early season form or fitness.
That looks less likely to be the case with Djokovic, who opens his campaign to match Roy Emerson's record tally of six men's singles titles against South Korea's Chung Hyeon. Coming off a year in which he won 11 tournaments and three of the four majors, the 28-year-old Serbian ironman should safely negotiate his opening match whatever the weather.
Djokovic is a red hot favourite to overcome all opponents and clinch another Australian Open title this year, although extreme temperatures will be a wild card the Serb has to watch out for.
Djokovic famously withdrew from his quarter-final against Andy Roddick in 2009 due to heat exhaustion with temperatures at about the same level. He was the defending champion at the time.
"You got to get yourself ready for whatever is coming your way," Djokovic said on Sunday when asked about the possibility of the extreme heat. "You spend the off-season training hard, getting your endurance level to that extent where you can actually handle these conditions. Of course, sometimes it's very difficult to handle them if it goes over 40 degrees. Whatever is coming our way tomorrow, I'll try to be ready for it." Williams begins her quest to equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles battling fitness concerns and with a host of players desperate to dethrone the defending champion.
The condition of Williams, who faces unpredictable Italian Camila Giorgi in her opener in the second match on Rod Laver, is more open to question. The American has barely swung a racket since the semi-final defeat to Italy's Roberta Vinci at last September's U.S. Open denied her a shot at the single season grand slam.
The 21-times grand slam champion said on Saturday the knee inflammation that has bothered her recently was no longer a problem and she was "at 130 percent" for her first round tie.
Whether or not her comments can be taken at face value, writing off Williams for whatever reason is a dangerous business and it would be no surprise at all if she swatted Giorgi aside as she embarks on her bid for a seventh singles title.
Her fellow 34-year-old Roger Federer, 17-times a grand slam winner, takes centre stage in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena as he embarks on his quest for a fifth Melbourne Park crown against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili. Another former champion, women's fifth seed Maria Sharapova, takes on Japan's Nao Hibino in the primetime match on Margaret Court Arena but local eyes might be more on Hisense Arena where Australian young gun Nick Kyrgios plays Pablo Carreno Busta.