MATCH! What a win for Naomi Osaka! The two-time champion defeats Caroline Garcia 6-3 3-6 6-3 to earn some revenge for last year’s defeat at this very stage.

A huge forehand winner down the line set up three match points, and Garcia blasts long on the second. The French player battled back to force the decider but was too erratic.

But Osaka, the four-time grand slam winner, is through, and this really shows the progress she has made in the last year since returning to the tour.

“I have been grinding,” she says. “It’s a big coincidence that I played her again, it was a night match last time too. It felt a little familiar.”

It’s Karolina Muchova next. Ouch.

GAME ON! Caroline Garcia is a dangerous opponent for a reason. The French player levels the match with a 6-3 reverse of the opener. Such a great ball-striker, Garcia found her serve too and forces Naomi Osaka into the decider.

Nick Kyrgios admitted he may have played his last singles match at the Australian Open after losing to Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in the opening round.

The Australian, 29, struggled with an abdominal injury as he made his long-awaited return to the tournament after almost 18 months on his sidelines.

But the former Wimbledon finalist was beaten in straight-sets by the Australian Open debutant Fearnley, who subdued a raucous crowd on the John Cain Arena.

Kyrgios and his powerful serve were hampered by his injury but he said he did not want to quit as he does not know if he will be back playing singles again.

“I mean, realistically I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here,” Kyrgios told reporters after the defeat.

Novak Djokovic admitted his first on-court experience of being coached by Andy Murray was “strange” but said his former rival offered some “great advice” after opening his Australian Open campaign with a comeback win over teenager Nishesh Basavareddy.

Djokovic and Murray faced each other in four Australian Open finals but the retired Scot has joined the 37-year-old’s’ team as he bids to win a record 25th grand slam title this month.

Murray was positioned in the new ‘coaching pods’ on the Rod Laver Arena, which are positioned at court-level and allowed him to exchange feedback with Djokovic during the first-round match.

SET! Super impressive set from Naomi Osaka as she takes a 6-3 lead over Caroline Garcia. The four-time major winner did not advance past the second round of a grand slam last year after missing the whole 2023 season but looks detemined to make it through what was another brutal draw.

Break! Great to see Naomi Osaka moving so well as she gets the first breakthrough against Caroline Garcia. There is another interesting player-coach duo to look out for here, with Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou joining Osaka’s team during the off-season.

The four-time major winner leads 4-3.

If you’re feeling a sense of deja vu watching Naomi Osaka face Caroline Garcia in the final match of the day on Rod Laver Arena, that’s because this is a repeat of last year’s first-round clash at the Australian Open.

Two-time Australian Open champion Osaka was just coming back to the sport when Garcia won their first-round battle last year.

She will be more confident after a year on tour, but has been handed another brutal draw against the former World No 3 Garcia.

Novak Djokovic will take on Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria in the second round. The 21-year-old defeated Pavel Kotov in the first round after coming through three rounds of qualifying.

Up ahead, Djokovic’s path to the quarter-finals has been made a little more straight-forward by the hugely unfortunate news that Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire from his opening match. Italy’s Francesco Passaro advances instead.

Former British tennis player Laura Robson was sat court-side for Eurosport and Discovery+ and has revealed some of the dynamics between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray during his win over Nishesh Basavareddy.

“I managed to keep an eye on him. He did not stay for the on-court interview, he was out of there pronto. He’s not used to sitting down and watching a match for three hours and was stretching his back out by the end.

“I was surprised with how vocal he was. I was surprised to hear, ‘C’mon Novak, keep the energy up’, and I saw some hand signals too. It was more than I thought we were going to get in a way.”

“He was the better player for a set and a half, he deserved every bit of applause he got” says Novak Djokovic as he congratulates Nishesh Basavareddy on his debut appearance at the Australian Open.

“To be honest, I’ve never seen him play until a few days ago. These matches are always dangerous when they have nothing to lose, first match at the grand slam level. A very complete player. He surprised me with his shots and fighting spirit, I wish him all the best with the rest of his career. He’s a boy but he didn’t get carried away by the moment.”

There is applause for Andy Murray as Djokovic is asked about his coach’s skiing skills. “It was his first experience, we were joking about it. It was a strange experience with him court-side, I’m thrilled to have him in my corner. We played for over 20 years against each other.

“He gave me some great advice mid-match. We exchanged some feedback. It’s a completely different angle when you are watching from the side and he is doing really well, hopefully we don’t stop here.”