AFP - A selection of brief stories from the Australian Open.

Wozniacki, Rafa in late shows

Caroline Wozniacki had a good excuse for being late for her post-match press conference: she had lost her clothes. "I'm sorry I'm late. I lost my bag somewhere and I couldn't find it. Yeah, took me a while," smiled the top seed. "I thought it would be inappropriate to dress in a towel.... I didn't have any more clothes. So I took a shower, and I'm looking for my bag and I couldn't find it. Thankfully, one of the locker room ladies was nice enough to go out and look for it." Meanwhile Rafael Nadal made no excuses -- he's always late. "So everybody arrives late because they thought that I am late, no?" he asked, as journalists filed into his press conference. "I usually am very late, so they know that."

Federer misses date with destiny

Roger Federer was scheduled to make a rare foray outside the Open's Rod Laver Arena until Lady Luck intervened and he was awarded a walkover. "I was excited. I wasn't disappointed to hear that I was going to play there, to be quite honest," said Federer of his scheduled match on the Hisense Arena. His opponent, Germany's Andreas Beck, was a late withdrawal from the match with a lower back problem. Federer has played all his matches at Melbourne Park on the centre court since 2004. "At Wimbledon and at the French we always go at the second court," Federer said. "It's just here and at the US Open where... they have more night sessions and more space for men's matches on the centre court that it's really difficult for you to be moved out."

Aussie Kim's birthday sing-song

Defending champion Kim Clijsters gave her younger sister a birthday surprise following her 6-0, 6-1 win over France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon. During a courtside interview with former player Rennae Stubbs, Clijsters asked whether it was OK if she asked the crowd to sing 'Happy Birthday' to sister Elke, who was watching back home in Belgium. With the popular "Aussie Kim" Clijsters leading, the large crowd joined in a rousing rendition for Elke's 27th birthday. It's not the first time Clijsters has had fun during her on-court interviews. Last year she chided former doubles star Todd Woodbridge over a text message in which he said she looked pregnant and had bigger breasts.

New roof plan for Melbourne Park

Melbourne will be the world's first grand slam tennis venue to have three feature courts with retractable roofs. State minister for major projects Denis Napthine and minister for sport Hugh Delahunty unveiled changes, which include a redeveloped Margaret Court Arena with an open-and-shut roof and increased capacity by 1,500 to 7,500. "This fantastic new design is focused on people and creating an active and welcoming space. The roof will provide greater shade and rain protection for the public," Napthine said.