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.

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

Coco Gauff of the U.S. prepares to serve to Paula Badosa of Spain during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Alexander Zverev of Germany serves to Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Ben Shelton of the U.S. plays a backhand return to Gael Monfils of France during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Tommy Paul of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Alexander Zverev of Germany during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Ben Shelton of the U.S. falls during his quarterfinal match against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Lorenzo Sonego of Italy serves to Ben Shelton of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Paula Badosa of Spain during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. warms up before a fourth round match against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia play their quarterfinal match on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Alexander Zverev of Germany serves to Jacob Fearnley of Britain during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain returns a shot against Jack Draper of Britain during a fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Iga Swiatek of Poland serves to Emma Navarro of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. serves to Paula Badosa of Spain during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland returns a shot between legs to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Ben Shelton of the U.S. waits to receive serve during his quarterfinal against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus prepares to serve to Clara Tauson of Denmark during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Iga Swiatek of Poland serves to Emma Navarro of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan serves to Madison Keys of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. returns a shot from Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Emma Navarro of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Ons Jabeur of Tunisia during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Taylor Fritz of the U.S. serves to Gael Monfils of France during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Israeli strikes killed at least 23 people in the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday, Palestinian medics said, as hospitals are flooded with dead and wounded since Israel resumed heavy bombardment last week, shattering the ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war. The dead include three children and their parents who were killed in a strike on their tent.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an Oscar-winning Palestinian director is set to be released a day after he was badly beaten by Jewish settlers and detained by Israeli forces, according to the director's lawyer. The lawyer said Hamdan Ballal had been wounded in the attack and was accused of throwing stones at a young settler, allegations he denies.

Israel’s parliament passed a crucial state budget on Tuesday, a move that shores up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s governing coalition and grants the embattled leader the chance at months of political stability even as public pressure mounts over the war in Gaza.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 113,000, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel launched the campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.

Here's the latest:

An Oscar-winning Palestinian director and two others have been released by Israeli authorities, a day after he says he was badly beaten by Jewish settlers and detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

Associated Press journalists on Tuesday spoke with Hamdan Ballal after he left the police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba where he was being held. Ballal had bruises on his face and blood on his clothes.

Ballal and other witnesses say he was attacked by Jewish settlers before being detained by the Israeli army Monday evening. The Israeli military said Monday it had detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a what it described as a violent confrontation.

Ballal is one of the other directors of “No Other Land,” which won the Oscar this year for best documentary. The film chronicles the struggle by residents of the Masafer Yatta area to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages.

An Israeli strike Tuesday in southwestern Syria killed at least four people as Israeli troops occupying the area clashed with local residents, Syrian state media and a war monitor reported.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said troops fired back at gunmen who attacked them, before launching a drone attack.

Syrian state-run news agency SANA said several people were wounded, including a woman. The report said Israeli tanks in the southwestern village of Koayiah also fired several rounds.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at seven. The observatory and a town resident told The Associated Press that clashes had erupted between Israeli troops and residents when the Israeli troops fired.

Israel seized a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone inside Syria after Islamist insurgents toppled President Bashar Assad and seized power in December, with Israeli officials saying they will thwart any threats.

The lawyer for an Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was attacked by Jewish settlers and detained by Israeli forces says he will be released.

Lea Tsemel, the attorney for Hamdan Ballal, said Tuesday that he and two other Palestinians spent the night on the floor of a military base while suffering from serious injuries sustained in the attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could feel free to move toward a lasting ceasefire with Hamas since his political allies, who oppose ending the war, have little incentive to trigger new elections while their polling numbers are down, said Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

But the vote doesn’t mean Netanyahu will move in the direction to end the war, she said. She expected him to further his ultranationalist partners’ agenda to keep them as loyal allies and galvanize the nationalist right ahead of any future vote.

“Netanyahu is always thinking about the next elections,” Talshir said. “His goal is to make sure the extreme right will be in his government now and in the future.”

Israel’s parliament on Tuesday passed a state budget, a move that shores up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and grants the embattled leader the chance at months of political stability even as public pressure mounts over the war in Gaza.

The budget vote was seen as a key test for Netanyahu’s coalition, which is made up of ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties who had demanded and largely received hefty sums for their constituents in exchange for support for the funding package. By law, the government would fall and elections triggered if a budget weren’t passed by March 31.

With its passing, Netanyahu buys himself what’s likely to be more than a year of political quiet that could see his government coast through to the end of its term in late 2026, a rare occurrence in Israel’s fractious politics. It’s a political win for Netanyahu, who faces mass protests over his decision to resume the war in Gaza while hostages still remain in Hamas’ hands, and over his government’s recent moves to fire top legal and security chiefs.

Palestinian first responders say a nine-member ambulance crew is still missing days after being surrounded and targeted by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the team was responding to airstrikes in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of the southern city of Rafah when Israeli forces encircled the area early Sunday. It said Israel has refused access to the area since then.

The military said troops had fired on ambulances and fire trucks that it said had raised suspicion by moving without prior coordination and without headlights or emergency signals. It said those inside were militants, without providing evidence.

The Israeli military says a well-known Palestinian journalist killed in a strike on the Gaza Strip was also a Hamas sniper.

It shared what it said were internal Hamas documents purportedly showing that Hossam Shabat was a sniper in a Hamas battalion in northern Gaza and had received military training in 2019. The military said he had carried out attacks during the war, without providing evidence.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera said Shabat, a freelance reporter, was covering the war for the satellite news network when he was killed in an Israeli strike on Monday. It said he had been wounded in an Israeli strike in November.

Shabat, in his early 20s, was prolific on social media, sharing videos and other reports with more than 170,000 followers on the X platform.

Israel has banned Al Jazeera and accused several of its journalists in Gaza of being Palestinian militants. A number of them have been killed or wounded in Israeli strikes. The channel denies the accusations and says Israel is trying to silence journalists covering the war.

One of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary “ No Other Land ” was still missing on Tuesday after being beaten by Jewish settlers and detained by the Israeli military.

Attorney Lea Tsemel told The Associated Press she had no information on filmmaker Hamdan Ballal’s whereabouts early Tuesday, around 12 hours after witnesses said he was attacked and detained in the occupied West Bank.

Ballal was one of three Palestinians detained in the village of Susiya late Monday, according to Tsemel, who is representing them. Police told her they’re being held at a military base for medical treatment, and she said she hasn’t been able to speak with them.

Basel Adra, another co-director, witnessed the detention and said around two dozen settlers — some masked, some carrying guns, some in Israeli uniform — attacked the village. Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns at the Palestinians, while settlers continued throwing stones.

The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians — a claim witnesses interviewed by the AP disputed.

The military said it had transferred them to Israeli police for questioning and had evacuated an Israeli citizen from the area to receive medical treatment.

Palestinian medics say Israeli strikes killed at least 23 people in the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday.

Nasser Hospital said it received four additional bodies from two other strikes in addition to the family of five.

In central Gaza, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in three separate strikes. Three others were killed in a strike on a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

In Gaza City, an Israeli strike on a residential building killed 5 people, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. Another 12 people were wounded, it said.

Basel Adra, Palestinian co-director of the Oscar winner documentary "No Other Land", looks at a damaged car after a settler's attack in the village of Susiya in Masafer Yatta, south Hebron hills Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

FILE - Palestinian Basel Adra, left, and Israeli Yuval Abraham, co-directors for "No Other Land" receive the documentary award at the International Film Festival, Berlinale, in Berlin on Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli bombardment in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip as they are brought for burial Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect the site hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the Field Hospitals Department in Gaza, surveys the destruction inside the surgical building of Nasser Hospital, a day after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Amani Abu Aker holds the body of her two-year-old niece Salma, killed during an Israeli army strike, before their burial at the Baptist hospital in Gaza City, Monday March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians carry the body of Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas' political bureau who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the Field Hospitals Department in Gaza, surveys the destruction inside the surgical building of Nasser Hospital, a day after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)