Men's singles first round
Taylor Fritz has exorcised demons from a first-round boilover in his previous major to withstand an onslaught from Nikoloz Basilashvili in his opening Australian Open clash.
In his first Grand Slam campaign as a top-eight seed, Fritz said a surprise defeat to qualifying compatriot Brandon Holt at last year's US Open was never far from mind as he prepared to face the Georgian on Tuesday.
Fortunately for the American, a strong run to an ATP Finals semifinal on debut to close out last season and four from five in Team USA's United Cup triumph leading in held him in good stead as he prevailed in four sets.
MORE: All the scores from Day 2 at AO 2023
Danish ninth seed Holger Rune and German 12th seed Alexander Zverev – contesting his first major since Roland Garros last year – posted contrasting victories to join Fritz in the second round.
"I think it adds pressure to my match today knowing I went out in the first round of the last Grand Slam," Fritz said.
"Now I know that it's a possibility. It's something that can happen.
MORE: Australian Open 2023 men's singles draw
"It would be really bad to let it happen again, especially when I feel like I've been playing really well and this tournament is a really good opportunity for me to have a big week.
"It probably added to the pressure of performing today. It's just good to get through this one and now I kind of play myself in the tournament, and I'll feel 10 times better going into the next match."
The pair had split four previous meetings on hard courts, with Basilashvili having claimed their most recent, in the 2021 Indian Wells semifinals.
Fritz was rattled early trying to match his opponent’s enormous pace of shot and needed to play within himself in order to lift his first-serve percentage, which languished below 50 per cent after the first six games.
Once settled, the 25-year-old trimmed his error count and opened up a two-set lead before Basilashvili strung together a shot-making highlights reel to snatch the third set.
It was a glimpse of the kind of form that had carried the Georgian as high as world No.16 four years ago but in a match that started outdoors and finished under the roof due to heat, Fritz proved more stable when it mattered to set a meeting with either Australian Alexei Popyrin or Tseng Chun-hsin.
"I think today was tough to gauge my level because I can't really play my game when I'm playing against Basilashvili," Fritz said.
"I think next match… I'll get a lot more looks and just play the way I want to play, be aggressive and be in control of points."
Seeded one place below Fritz in his Australian Open main draw debut, teenager Rune breezed through his opening match against Filip Krajinovic on Tuesday afternoon to the deep crowd chants of "Rune".
The 19-year-old needed just two hours and three minutes to complete the 6-2 6-3 6-4 result and a clash with serve-volleying Maxime Cressy or Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
"It was a great match. I thought it was very hot conditions," the world No.10 said. "We were ready for the match, then it got suspended… It was an unbelievable atmosphere.
"I know it sounds like boos but I hear it's Rune. It sounds amazing, it's great. It all started at the US Open, so it's super nice we can bring it to Australia."
In his first Grand Slam outing since he suffered a horror ankle injury in his semifinal against Rafael Nadal at last year's Roland Garros, former world No.3 Alexander Zverev put his body to the test in a four-hour, six-minute thriller against Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas.
Zverev survived the lucky loser for his first match win since last June after two United Cup losses leading in.
"This match alone pays off all the hard work and all the suffering that I had over the last year and I'm happy to be back on court, happy to be able to play these kind of matches, to win in front of the crowd again," Zverev said.
"I can't wait for the rest of the tournament. In a way, no matter what happens the tournament is already a success for me."
In a clash of former Australian Open semifinalists, 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov prevailed over Aslan Karatsev to set a second-round meeting with Serbian Laslo Djere.
The Bulgarian, who fell to Nadal in five sets in the last four six years ago, denied the 2021 semifinalist for his 30th match win at Melbourne Park.
Argentine 23rd seed Diego Schwartzman was made to work for his four-set victory over Ukrainian qualifier Oleksii Krutykh but his compatriot, Pedro Cachin, fell in straight sets to Spanish 14th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry secured a straight-sets upset of Serbian 26th seed Miomir Kecmanovic.