Australian Open in pictures: A collection of AP photos showing the light and shade of the tournament

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A collection of some of the top photos by Associated Press photographers featuring the intense light and shade of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.

Summers in this city on the southeastern tip of the Australian mainland tend to be hot from December through February, with maximum daily temperatures regularly topping 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).

The daytime sun is typically high, and so is the UV index. That makes for bright, clear blue skies over Melbourne Park, creating some dramatic shifts in light and shade inside and outside the arenas.

Areas of shade behind each baseline on the courts expand and retract across the afternoon and well into the evenings, leaving the main show courts and the stadium seats sometimes bathed in natural sunlight and sometimes in the shadows.

Three of the main stadium courts, including Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, have retractable roofs, which can be quickly deployed in case of lightning, rain or extreme heat.

Melbourne Park is on the fringe of the city center but nestled into an open sporting precinct along the banks of the Yarra River that also includes the100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis —