Twelve months ago, during his first trip outside the US, young American Ben Shelton famously enjoyed a spectacular run to the last eight at Melbourne Park. The 21-year-old returned on Monday to successfully negotiate a tricky first-round meeting with Roberto Bautista Agut.
The 16th seed, who went on to reach the 2023 US Open semifinals and to then win his first ATP title in Tokyo in October, will have been on his guard against a former top-10 opponent and the 2019 Wimbledon semifinalist.
DRAW: Australian Open men’s singles
Bautista Agut has endured a difficult 12 months after suffering a broken bone in his lower leg from a freak horseriding accident last summer and struggled to cope with the American lefty’s ferocious ball striking in hot conditions at 1573 Arena.
Shelton pounded 53 winners past the Spaniard, including 14 aces, on his way to a 6-2 7-6(2) 7-5 win and said he was pleased to get past such an intelligent opponent.
“He's a smart player, definitely a vet,” Shelton told the press. “Not only in the way he plays, but what he does in between points, the way he manages himself. He doesn't give you much or show much out there.”
Asked how he thinks he’s improved as a player since his first visit to Melbourne last January, the former college star explained how he believes he’s now more than just a big serve.
“I think a much more solid baseliner,” Shelton said. “At this point I feel like I've rounded out my game a little bit, and I'm not relying on my serve as much as I was last year.
“I feel myself being a little more comfortable in rallies that go past three or four shots. So, I think that my shot tolerance has improved a bit. That just comes with playing so many great players in different places, different surfaces.”
At the other end of the age spectrum, thousands of fans were in place early inside Kia Arena where a 38-year-old former champion and a 36-year-old five-time runner-up were scheduled for first-round matches.
The 2014 men’s winner Stan Wawrinka’s task was to outfox tricky French lefty Adrian Mannarino on the Swiss star’s 18th visit, but ultimately his latest Melbourne Park adventure ended after five sets and over three-and-a-half hours on court.
Mannarino stayed cool to recover from a break down in the fourth set to go through 6-0 in the fifth, and Wawrinka insisted afterwards that despite his age this wouldn’t necessarily be a farewell visit.
“Hopefully not,” said the three-time Grand Slam champion. “I will see how the year goes.
“In general, I'm quite positive with where I am right now. Even after the loss, I think there is some good opportunity for me to keep pushing… hopefully I can come back next year.”
As Wawrinka waved goodbye, it was Andy Murray’s turn to fly the flag for the veterans when he took on Argentine 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Even when the 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016 runner-up trailed by two sets to love and a break, some were wondering whether Murray could emulate his memorable recovery from a similar position 12 months earlier against Thanasi Kokkinakis in a near-six-hour marathon that finished at 4am.
But this was a two-set deficit too far for the former world No.1 who in truth was comfortably outplayed by his 24-year-old opponent 6-4 6-2 6-2.
Murray said Monday's match may well be his last at Melbourne Park.
"It's a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here," said the Scot.
"In comparison to the matches that I played here last year, it's the complete opposite feeling walking off the court," added the 36-year-old, describing the loss as a "tough, tough way to finish" his trip Down Under.
"I didn't use the crowd and their support to my advantage like I should have done, I'm disappointed with that."
Other notable results in the men’s draw on Day 2 saw Alexei Popyrin take out fellow Aussie Marc Polmans to set up a second-round meeting with top seed Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.
And there were victories for another two young players when highly rated Czech Jakub Mensik and Italian Flavio Cobolli both notched up maiden Aussie Open wins.
Qualifier Mensik beat Denis Shapovalov in straight sets as the Canadian continued his comeback after a lengthy period out with a knee injury. The 18-year-old qualified and reached the third round at last summer’s US Open and is a former boys’ runner-up at Melbourne Park.
On Court 13, 21-year-old qualifier Cobolli hit back from 3-5 in the final set to take out 18th seed Nicolas Jarry 7-5 in the fifth.
Jarry picked up an unusual point penalty when he was serving at 5-6 when a ball fell out of his pocket mid-point for the second time in the match. Three points later he was out of the tournament.