20-year-old American Alex Michelsen has taken the first set off 12th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, breaking the Greek’s serve in the 12th game. It would be no surprise if the 2023 finalist became the first major casualty of the tournament.

It took Coco Gauff eight minutes and five deuces to hold serve in the opening game of her clash with Sofia Kenin. We could be in for a long one on RLA.

Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage has won the opening set 6-2 against France’s Leolia Jeanjean. The winner of that clash will face Gauff or Kenin in round two.

Third seed Coco Gauff has made her entrance onto Rod Laver Arena ready for her blockbuster first round match against 2020 champion Sofia Kenin. Gauff won all five matches at the United Cup in Perth recently, without dropping a set, continuing her excellent end to 2024, that concluded with WTA Finals glory.

Gauff is in Aryna Sabalenka’s quarter of the draw setting up the prospect of a mouthwatering semi-final towards the end of next week.

Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the final here in 2023, and made three semi-finals in the four years before that. His form has nosedived since, plummeting from third in the world to 12th, with only two tournament victories in that time.

He has the full throated support of Melbourne’s massive Greek community out on John Cain Arena this morning, but he has his work cut out against 20-year-old rising star Alex Michelsen who has vaulted from 601 in the world to 41st in just two years.

It’s currently on serve in the opening set.

Coco Gauff is in action in about 15 minutes, leading the charge for an emerging younger breed of US grand slam contenders.

Since her much-discussed break with coach Brad Gilbert after her disappointing US Open performance (losing to fellow American Emma Navarro, who is the eighth seed in Australia), Gauff’s record is an extraordinary 18-2 since the US Open. With new coach Matt Daly, Gauff has ironed out much of the issues with her forehand and serve and is playing a brand of highly confident tennis. Further, the fact that Gauff is one of the fastest players on tour and possesses a very strong mindset makes her somewhat upset-proof in the bigger events.

Today’s weather forecast is much more promising that yesterday. The temperature is in the mid-20s, it’s muggy but dry, and it should remain that way for most of the day. Any isolated showers passing through on the gentle southerly breeze are unlikely to linger for long.

The most interesting story from yesterday’s play was the success of Hady Habib, the first Lebanese tennis player to win a match at a grand slam. Tumaini Carayol has more:

Habib’s trailblazing success is even more significant considering it has come at a time of war in his country. The past year has been a period of unimaginable pain for many Lebanese people as the country continues to pick up the pieces following Israel’s airstrikes and ground invasion of Lebanon, which have killed nearly 4,000 people, destroyed whole towns and villages, and displaced more than a million people.

With Habib’s parents, other family and friends still living in Lebanon, he has spent much of the past year glued to his phone every morning as he has tried to check that his loved ones were all OK. His success has provided an unlikely source of inspiration for Lebanese people. “It’s a huge win, especially what we’ve been going through as a country,” he said. “I think to bring something positive, especially, we’ve been having a rough time with the war. We had our other issues in the past. It’s just nice to get this win for Lebanon and for the people.”

Preamble

Jonathan Howcroft