Djokovic practised his serves and returns with his entourage on an empty court at Melbourne Park
The 34-year-old practised for an hour on Thursday evening at the Rod Laver Arena and his fitness was improving "little by little, step by step", sources close to Nadal told Reuters.
A prodigious yet polarising talent, former quarter-finalist Nick Kyrgios suffered his earliest exit from Melbourne Park.
Novak Djokovic crashed to his first defeat of the season with a stunning 6-4, 6-4 loss to Alex de Minaur.
Novak Djokovic is prepared to miss the French Open and Wimbledon if COVID-19 vaccination becomes mandatory at the Grand Slams but he is not against inoculation, the world number one tennis player said.
Elena Rybakina stormed to her first Australian Open final with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka on Thursday, wearing the twice champion down in a cagey first set before dominating to close out the match.
Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig swept to a 6-3, 6-4 victory
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Friday.
Simona Halep finds the prospect of 14 days of quarantine ahead of the Australian Open daunting
India had mixed fortunes at the Australian Open as Leander Paes got off to a winning start in mixed doubles but it was end of the road for the fourth-seeded pair of Sania Mirza and her doubles partner, Czech, Barbora Strycova in the women's doubles event.
Rafael Nadal will become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles if he defeats the Russian in Melbourne.
It was a case of more pain than gain for Nadal since he hoisted the Musketeers' Cup for a record 14th time in June.
'From where I started, I was pretty proud of myself to be able to give myself another chance to be here, to qualify and play a second round. It's a good feeling.'
Virat Kohli booed by home fans after bumping shoulders with Konstas on the pitch after the 19-year-old smashed India's bowlers around the park early on.
He will start his 2022 season in South America at the Cordoba Open in Argentina at the end of January.
Djokovic has declined to disclose whether he is vaccinated, citing privacy.
Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam to ban competitors from Russia and Belarus last year.
Images from Day 6 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Images from Day 3 of the 2022 Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.
In a rematch of their tumultuous 2018 US Open decider, Osaka underlined her status as the new queen of women's tennis and soaked up the cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd as fans returned to the Grand Slam after a five-day lockdown.
World number three Elena Rybakina overcame Cristina Bucsa in two hard-fought sets to make the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International on Wednesday, while Jessica Pegula and Jelena Ostapenko had to work even harder to make the last eight.
Roger Federer strolled into the second round of the Australian Open with a clinical 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 rout of Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun under the lights of Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
Novak Djokovic will spend at least the next 72 hours in a Melbourne hotel before the next hearing in his fight to overturn a ban on entering Australia is held on Monday.
Roger Federer is keeping a lid on expectations.
Australian Open chief Craig Tiley is confident Rafael Nadal will be at Melbourne Park for next month's Grand Slam despite testing positive for COVID-19, but he is still uncertain whether Novak Djokovic will be playing.
Melbourne will host the 2019 edition of the Presidents Cup, as well as next year's World Cup of Golf, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced on Saturday.
'When we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don't play us in Canberra. They don't play us at any of the other venues where they won't be very familiar with the conditions. So do England'
Andy Murray embarks on his first Grand Slam campaign as world number one with much stronger title credentials, even if he has lost five finals at Melbourne Park.
The win is the Czech duo's fourth Grand Slam title together
Canadian Frank Dancevic slammed Australian Open organisers for forcing players to play in "inhumane" conditions after he suffered heat stroke in temperatures of 41 degrees Celcius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.
Osaka delighted to have father back in coaching role
Novak Djokovic missed two of this year's four Grand Slams due to not being vaccinated against the novel coronavirus but the Serbian said he has no regrets about his decision.
Stefanos Tsitsipas feels he is unfairly targetted by officials over on-court coaching and said that it should be allowed anyway, after his Australian Open semi-final loss to Daniil Medvedev on Friday.
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Djokovic, who has won nine titles at Melbourne Park, including the last three, confirmed on Tuesday that had received a vaccination exemption to allow him to bid for a record 21st major title at the Australian Open, which starts on January 17.
Almost 12,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the USTA to work with the country's government to allow Novak Djokovic to compete in the US Open despite his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
We bring you best images from week one of the 2019 Australian Open Championships at Melbourne Park
Novak Djokovic defended his father after a video emerged showing him posing at the Australian Open with some fans holding Russian flags, saying he was "misused" by the individuals and that his family was against war.
Novak Djokovic blamed "human error" on Wednesday for a mistake in his Australian immigration paperwork and apologised for breaking isolation for a photoshoot when he had COVID-19 last month.
