Welcome to our live coverage of day two of the Australian Open.
Day one was rocked — some might say ruined — by the news Nick Kyrgios is out of the tournament with a knee injury.
But apart from the Aussie star the big names were left unscathed as only two seeds in each of the men’s and women’s draw were knocked out in their opening match.
Men’s seeds Lorenzo Musetti (17) and Borna Coric (21) and women’s seeds Marie Bouzkova (25) and Amanda Anisimova (28) suffered early exits.
The likes of Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Ons Jabeur, Alexander Zverev and Andy Murray will be looking to avoid that fate as they open their campaigns today.
12.50pm — Bizarre reason game stopped
Over the years we’ve seen some bizarre reasons games have been brought to a standstill. From swarms of bees to ball kids tripping and falling.
On Tuesday one of the weirder reasons occured after Andrew Rublev’s first round encounter against Dominic Thiem was halted.
The two men stood in place as a rogue feather floated above the court. Eventually it made its way down where a waiting ball kid snapped it up and took it away.
11am — Swiatek fumes at Aus Open fan
Iga Swiatek was enjoying her opening round victory and signing autographs for fans in attendance when one crossed the line.
The world number one was happily signing tennis balls for fans hanging over the railing when one fan launched a ball that hit Swiatek in the stomach.
Swiatek caught the ball and delivered a swift warning to the fan over their inappropriate act. Despite her anger over the incident she still signed the ball.
9.15am — Aussie great questions Nick Kyrgios
Australian tennis icon Todd Woodbridge has raised questions over Nick Kyrgios’ withdrawal from the Australian Open.
Kyrgios pulled out of the United Cup and Adelaide International due to an ankle injury, but was forced to pull out of the first Grand Slam after suffering a meniscus tear in his left knee which had a growing cyst.
Woodbridge however pondered if the Canberra native would have done things differently if he had his time over again.
“I would hope he has a look at what he did at Wimbledon last year when his preparation was great,” Woodbridge told WWOS.
“The lead-up from a physical point of view, to then getting into the lead-in tournaments, to playing enough matches to be able to walk into Wimbledon knowing that everything was in that positive frame that he spoke about, that his ball striking was good, that his health was good, it gave him a chance to get in a final.
“Was that the preparation that happened before this summer?
“That’s the question, and if you were looking back at his schedule you would say that it was difficult to see that prep when he was flying around the world playing exhibition events.”
8am — Star savagely clips Kyrgios and his partner
David Goffin doesn’t care for Nick Kyrgios or his partner, Costeen Hatzi.
The Aussie star is the focal point in the opening episode of Netflix’s new series, Break Point, which shines a light behind the curtain on the tennis world and its stars.
Aiming to attract more fans to the sport, like Netflix’s Drive to Survive series has done with Formula 1, Goffin wasn’t buying in.
The former world number 7 was asked his opinion on the new series and if he’d be tuning in during his spare time … he didn’t mince his words as he delivered a savage clip to Kyrgios and Hatzi.
“I haven’t watched it yet. I am not really interested in seeing Kyrgios hanging out with his girlfriend. This series is not interesting for players or people who live on the tennis tour,” Goffin said via Le Soir.
5.30am — Russian star tells fan to ‘f*** off’
Two-time losing finalist Daniil Medvedev fired up his bid to go one better at the Australian Open with a straight-sets demolition of Marcos Giron on Monday night.
The Russian seventh seed, almost a foot taller than his opponent, blasted past the 56th-ranked American 6-0 6-1 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena in just 1hr 36mins.
There was barely a hiccup until Medvedev was taken to deuce while trying to serve for the match.
The tension prompted the combative star to object to one rowdy fan, who he promptly told to “f*** off”.
The chair umpire immediately gave Medvedev a code violation for audible obscenity, which drew a shake of the head from the 26-year-old.
Medvedev lashed out at the Melbourne crowd during the final last year, which he lost to Rafael Nadal despite taking the first two sets.
“They are idiots. No brains, empty brains,” he said in a conversation with the chair umpire at a change of ends. “Probably in their life, it must be very bad.”
He then delivered an angry rant in his post-final press conference, calling the crowd “disrespectful”.
“A thousand people would be like, ‘Tsss, tsss, tsss’. That sound. It’s disappointing. It’s disrespectful,” he said. “I’m not sure after 30 years I’m going to want to play tennis.”
Next up for Medvedev is a second-round clash with Australian wildcard John Millman, who came through a five-setter against Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler.