One of Australia's favourite and most fiery sons made his eagerly-anticipated return to the Australian Open on day two, as the first-round matches continued in Melbourne.
Nick Kyrgios rolled back the years with some of his trademark racquet work against Great Britain's Jacob Fearnley, while Novak Djokovic began his quest for a record-breaking 25th major honour against an embryonic foe.
Here, Sports Mole looks at the highlights, winners and losers of day two's action at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic begins 25 quest with four-set win
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After a rare season without a single Grand Slam title in 2024 - albeit one with an Olympic gold medal - Djokovic survived an early scare against 19-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy to triumph in four sets.
The Serbian - 18 years Basavareddy's senior - prevailed 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 in his 429th Grand Slam singles match, drawing level with Roger Federer for the most of any player in the Open Era.
Djokovic will therefore set a new outright record of 430 when he faces Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria in round two, unless he unexpectedly withdraws through injury, and some of his biggest rivals for major stardom navigated their first-round ties on Monday too.
Reigning champion and top seed Jannik Sinner bested Nicolas Jarry 7-6[2] 7-6[5] 6-1 for his 15th straight Grand Slam win on hard courts, while Carlos Alcaraz eased to a 6-1 7-5 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan.
British number one Jack Draper is a potential fourth-round opponent for Alcaraz after the 15th seed's battling win over Mariano Navone, as he trailed twice but came through in five sets 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.
On the women's side of the draw, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff made light work of Katerina Siniakova and Sofia Kenin respectively, and Gauff's second-round opponent will be GB's Jodie Burrage, who secured an emotional 6-2 6-4 win over French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean.
Burrage was one of two British women to book their place in the second round on Monday, as lucky loser Harriet Dart edged a nail-biting tie-breaker to beat Jana Fett 7-5 2-6 7-6[7].
Nick Kyrgios falls at first hurdle on Australian Open return
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Speaking of British success, Fearnley's progression to the second stage came at the expense of Kyrgios, whose first Grand Slam singles match since the 2022 US Open ended in a straight-sets loss to the 23-year-old.
Kyrgios - who was visibly struggling throughout the match and required medical attention multiple times - lost 6-7[3] 3-6 6-7[2] to Fearnley, who could face second seed Alexander Zverev in round three.
Kyrgios was one of a couple high-profile exits in the men's draw, as 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten in four sets by American 20-year-old Alex Michelsen, while 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov had to retire injured from his first-round match with Francesco Passaro.
In the women's singles, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was the highest seed to fall, succumbing to a 3-6 6-7 loss to Belinda Bencic, while home qualifier Destanee Aiava upset Greet Minnen of Belgium 5-7 7-5 7-6[5].
> Click here for a full roundup of day one's action at the Australian Open
Ben Knapton
