Andy Murray pulled off a remarkable first-round win at the Australian Open, beating the 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in a five-set epic on Rod Laver Arena.
After going two sets up, Murray had to withstand a superb fightback from the Italian with the match going all the way to a fifth-set tiebreak before he eventually triumphed 6-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 (10-6).
Elsewhere, Cameron Norrie breezed through to the second round of the Australian Open, but Harriet Dart and Kyle Edmund were both thrashed on day one.
Emma Raducanu is through to the second round, after victory over Tamara Korpatsch. Jack Draper was beaten by Rafael Nadal. Dan Evans and Andy Murray play on day two (see schedule below).
Norrie, the 11th seed, moved past wildcard Frenchman Luca Van Assche with ease on Monday with a 7-6(3) 6-0 6-3 victory. Though the first set proved tight against a player who won the French Open junior title in 2021 Norrie had momentum on his side thereafter, winning 10 games in a row to qualify for the second round.
Norrie, 27, made the semi-final at Wimbledon last year and achieved his best results at the US Open and French Open in 2022 too. He is attempting to keep that record going at the Australian Open, where his best result came two years ago in reaching the third round.
With home favourite Nick Kyrgios withdrawing through injury, world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz also absent and even Novak Djokovic struggling with his own physical difficulties in the build up, the men's draw in Melbourne is shaping up to be much more open than previous years, which is a dream scenario for a consistent operator like Norrie.
He faces another Frenchman, Constant Lestienne, 30, in the next round and will be the overwhelming favourite. 55th-ranked Lestienne's first-round win over Brazil's Thiago Monteiro was only his second ever victory at a Grand Slam event.
Elsewhere British No 2 Dart was beaten by 32nd seed Jil Teichmann 7-5 6-1, after squandering her advantage in the first set. Afterwards, she said an oblique issue had interrupted her preparations for the first major of the year and her plan was to reset over the next few weeks. In particular, she is keen on finding a coaching replacement for Nigel Sears, who helped her break into the top 100 for the first time last year before the pair parted ways.
When did the Australian Open start?
The tournament started at Melbourne Park on Monday, January 16 and finishes on Sunday, January 29.
How to watch the Australian Open 2023 on TV
In the UK, Eurosport has the broadcasting rights to live action from Melbourne and will show 250 hours of live coverage with Alize Lim, Mats Wilander and Tim Henman leading coverage alongside Barbara Schett and Laura Robson. John McEnroe, will join from New York while Alex Corretja (Spain), Justine Henin (France), Boris Becker (Germany) and Roberta Vinci (Italy) will be part of Eurosport's localised coverage.
To watch on discovery+, an Entertainment & Sport pass is £6.99/month or £59.99/year. In the US, the tournament is broadcast on ESPN.
Day two order of play
(All times local, +11 hours from GMT)
Rod Laver Arena
12:00: (5) Aryna Sabalenka (Blr) v Eva Martincova (Cze), Katherine Sebov (Can) v (4) Caroline Garcia (Fra), (13) Matteo Berrettini (Ita) v Andy Murray (Gbr), Tamara Zidansek (Slo) v (2) Ons Jabeur (Tun), Roberto Carballes Baena (Spa) v (4) Novak Djokovic (Ser)
Margaret Court Arena
12:00: Garbine Muguruza (Spa) v (26) Elise Mertens (Bel), Xiyu Wang (Chn) v (30) Karolina Pliskova (Cze), Tomas Machac (Cze) v (2) Casper Ruud (Nor), Viktoriya Tomova (Bul) v (12) Belinda Bencic (Swi), Yu Hsiou Hsu (Tpe) v (22) Alex De Minaur (Aus)
John Cain Arena
12:00: (5) Andrey Rublev (Rus) v Dominic Thiem (Aut), (8) Taylor Harry Fritz (USA) v Nikoloz Basilashvili (Geo), Maryna Zanevska (Bel) v (9) Veronika Kudermetova (Rus), (19) Nick Kyrgios (Aus) v Roman Safiullin (Rus)
1573 Arena
12:00: (27) Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) v Aslan Karatsev (Rus), (16) Anett Kontaveit (Est) v Julia Grabher (Aut), Jasmine Paolini (Ita) v (18) Ludmilla Samsonova (Rus), Juan Pablo Varillas (Per) v (12) Alexander Zverev (Ger)
Kia Arena
12:00: (31) Kaia Kanepi (Est) v Kimberly Birrell (Aus), Filip Krajinovic (Ser) v (9) Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (Den), Thanasi Kokkinakis (Aus) v Fabio Fognini (Ita), (8) Daria Kasatkina (Rus) v Varvara Gracheva (Rus)
Court 3
12:00: Leylah Annie Fernandez (Can) v Alize Cornet (Fra), Jeffrey John Wolf (USA) v Jordan Thompson (Aus), Chun Hsin Tseng (Tpe) v Alexei Popyrin (Aus), (14) Beatriz Haddad Maia (Bra) v Nuria Parrizas-Diaz (Spa)
Court 5
12:00: Arianne Hartono (Ned) v Shelby Rogers (USA), Katie Volynets (USA) v Evgeniya Rodina (Rus), Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) v Tommy Paul (USA), Richard Gasquet (Fra) v Ugo Humbert (Fra)
Court 6
12:00: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) v Camila Giorgi (Ita), Nicolas Jarry (Chi) v (26) Miomir Kecmanovic (Ser), Christopher O'Connell (Aus) v Jenson Brooksby (USA), Alison Riske-Amritraj (USA) v Marketa Vondrousova (Cze)
Court 7
12:00: Facundo Bagnis (Arg) v (25) Daniel Evans (Gbr), Max Purcell (Aus) v Emil Ruusuvuori (Fin), Lucrezia Stefanini (Ita) v Tatjana Maria (Ger), Shelley Stephens (Nzl) v Anastasia Potapova (Rus)
Court 8
12:00: (21) Martina Trevisan (Ita) v Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Svk), (14) Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spa) v Pedro Cachin (Arg), Petra Martic (Cro) v Viktorija Golubic (Swi), Aleksandar Vukic (Aus) v Brandon Holt (USA)
Court 12
12:00: Daniel Elahi Galan (Col) v Jeremy Chardy (Fra), Maxime Cressy (USA) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spa), Mayar Sherif (Egy) v Magda Linette (Pol)
Court 13
12:00: Ysaline Bonaventure (Bel) v (19) Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus), Linda Fruhvirtova (Cze) v Jaimee Fourlis (Aus), David Goffin (Bel) v Laurent Lokoli (Fra), Joao Sousa (Por) v (24) Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa)
Court 14
12:00: Zizou Bergs (Bel) v Laslo Djere (Ser), Ben Shelton (USA) v Zhizhen Zhang (Chn), (23) Shuai Zhang (Chn) v Patricia Maria Tig (Rom), (27) Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) v Saisai Zheng (Chn)
Court 15
12:00: Mattia Bellucci (Ita) v Benjamin Bonzi (Fra), Donna Vekic (Cro) v Oksana Selekhmeteva (Rus), Lucia Bronzetti (Ita) v Laura Siegemund (Ger), Claire Liu (USA) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Court 16
12:00: Diane Parry (Fra) v Taylor Townsend (USA), (30) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spa) v Alexander Bublik (Kaz), Sorana Cirstea (Rom) v Yulia Putintseva (Kaz), Enzo Couacaud (Fra) v Hugo Dellien (Bol)
Court 17
12:00: (23) Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) v Oleksii Krutykh (Ukr), Lauren Davis (USA) v Danka Kovinic (Mne), John Isner (USA) v Adrian Mannarino (Fra)
What's the latest news?
Novak Djokovic's hopes of a perfectly scripted, triumphant return to the Australian Open could be derailed by a hamstring issue he cannot seem to shake.
Djokovic, 36, is due to begin his first major of the year on Tuesday against Spain's Roberto Carballés Baena but on Monday the nine-times champion appeared for his evening hit with heavy strapping on his left leg.
Djokovic had sparked fears of a withdrawal after he cancelled his earlier scheduled training session, but emerged a few hours later on a more secluded practice court. Afterwards, he reportedly thanked onlooking fans for watching and said he would see them at his first-round match.
While Djokovic will in all likelihood play on Tuesday, the development follows a week of question marks around his fitness in the build up to his long-awaited return to the Australian Open, one year on from his dramatic deportation.
A win in Melbourne would be a remarkable comeback, extending his record haul to 10 titles and equaling Rafael Nadal's all-time leading 22-major trophies - a big goal of Djokovic's. But this injury could affect the tournament favourite's chances.
"Well, I've been struggling with that a bit, to be honest, the last seven days," Djokovic told reporters of his injury on Saturday. "But it's hopefully not the major concern. So far I've been able to train, compete and play points, practice sets. So that's a positive sign. Obviously, I'm being a bit more cautious. I'm not going full out on the training sessions, conserving the energy for next week. Hopefully it won't cause an issue for me then."
What is the Australian Open prize money?
The Australian Open total prize pool is $76.5 million, up 3.4 per cent on 2022. The singles champions will each take home $2.975 million, so just over £2.47 million.
Who are the defending champions?
Ashleigh Barty beat Danielle Collins to end a 44-year drought for the home nation by winning the 2022 women's title.
Rafael Nadal fought back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev and win his 21st grand slam title.
What are the latest odds?
Men's singles:
Novak Djokovic 8/11
Daniil Medvedev 9/2
Rafael Nadal 11/1
Taylor Fritz 12/1
Stefanos Tsitsipas 14/1
Women's singles:
Iga Swiatek 2/1
Aryna Sabalenka 13/2
Jessica Pegula 15/
Coco Gauff 9/1
Caroline Garcia 12/1
Odds correct as of January 17
